Han Xiao turned around and started to fall back. He repeatedly fired Hayme bullets at Luo in an attempt to lure her closer.

Luo raised her hands and started pushing to release an energy shield in front of her body. The bullets were blocked by the shield, and as they collided with the shield, there were beams of white light.

Superhumans of the ‘Fortified Type’ possessed the innate ability to counter the powers of a sniper. However, the poisonous gases emitted by the Hayme bullets were depleting Luo’s HP. Furthermore, the impact from the collisions onto the energy shield also impacted Luo’s body and decreased her health. However, the impact was relatively low after a reduction of 95%.

Luo could sense the fury building up in her body. The killer in her was overflowing like water from a fountain.

After Han Xiao fired the thirteenth shot, Luo moved closer toward him. The shots fired along the way managed to reduce Luo’s HP by 100 points.

If the superhumans did not possess the special defensive powers, they would have been very brittle to the attacks. The force that Luo possessed granted her the ability to both attack and defend. However, when challenging hardy magnetically-controlled retractable armor, Luo’s body would be wrecked from the battle.

Once they started fighting, Luo realized the weakness of her physical body.

Han Xiao suddenly drew out his retractable machete. He held the blade in his right hand and wielded the mechanical arm in his left hand. He was unafraid of fighting Luo head-on. Luo focused on using all her strength to smash Han Xiao’s head; however, she realized that Han Xiao was clad in a think metallic armor.

At that instant, Han Xiao’s retractable armor extended to up to his head, protecting his face and skull. Han Xiao moved his head back slightly, and with the help of the armor, he managed to withstand the shock from Luo’s strike. Han Xiao used his machete and mechanical arm to continuously penetrate the energy shield of Luo. The battle was fierce, and white sparks were emitted with each contact made.

Pan Kuang, who was Level 40, had problems defeating Han Xiao in close-range combat; therefore, Luo’s close combat powers were not much of a concern for Han Xiao.

Instead, the abilities she possessed as a ‘Fortified Type’ superhuman were greater threats to Han Xiao. Luo was able strike suddenly at the target from almost all angles, and therefore, her attacks often disrupted the flow of Han Xiao’s attack.

“Force push!”

Han Xiao could feel an invisible impact to his knees.

Luo made use of the opportunity to pull backward and created more space. She could feel tightness in her chest, as if her lungs were being scorched. The high-intensity combat had taken its toll on her body. Her stamina was running low. Superhuman abilities often required the use of huge amounts of energy. In order to replenish her energy, Luo exhausted her stamina. She was deeply fatigued and looked at Han Xiao in disbelief and shock.

How on earth is this sniper so powerful? He can fight better than pugilists!

Tu tu tu!

The last few remnants of Rose Militant finally were finally approaching Han Xiao. They immediately concentrated all their firepower on him. To retaliate, Han Xiao fired his Berserk Eagles wildly, and the militants bled uncontrollably as they collapsed to the ground.

Su Li was the only one that managed to dodge Han Xiao’s attacks. She was nimble and swift. She had the swag of a pugilist. She was wearing a pair of special gloves. There were a couple of circuits on the gloves, and the gloves emitted blue light. Han Xiao sensed impending danger.

Mechanical pugilist!

Su Li was approaching at high speed. Her hand pushed toward Han Xiao. It seemed like her push was weak and flimsy, but Han Xiao focused his attention and managed to recognize the gloves Su Li was wearing. The level of threat of Su Li increased, and Han Xiao quickly rotated his body to dodge Su Li’s attack. It was unwise to fight Su Li head-on. Han Xiao decided to use the firepower of his pistols to suppress Su Li. However, Luo came toward and managed to repel the bullets with her energy shield.

The three were engaged in an intense battle. The pair of gloves that Su Li was wearing managed to suppress Han Xiao’s power. Han Xiao was at a loss how to counter them. The two ladies realized that and made use of the opportunity to gain the upper hand in the battle. The situation gradually turned disadvantageous for Han Xiao.

If I don’t make some sacrifices, it will be almost impossible for me to kill both of them.

With a look of determination of his face, Han Xiao approached Su Li suddenly and pressed his body had on her gloves. The sudden collision shocked Su Li. The gloves were touching Han Xiao’s armor. An uncontrollable current was flowing through the scorching hot armor!

The endurance of the armor depleted exponentially. It reduced by almost 100 points. In fact, it was the first time the endurance of the armor had faced such a huge reduction!

Han Xiao felt a burn to his chest. The high temperature exceeded the threshold of the armor, and the heat scorched his body. Han Xiao had no time to look at the new messages that were flashing on the interface. He employed the wind-slicing slash and stabbed the machete hard into Su Li chest. An eye for an eye!

Su Li’s eyes expanded in astonishment. Han Xiao pressed the Berserk Eagles to her forehead and started firing hysterically. A Mechanic without any form of armor was very vulnerable.

Boom boom boom!

“Kill the enemy!” Luo yelled in anger and attacked Han Xiao back while he was busy taking of Su Li.

There was a sharp pain in Han Xiao’s spine. He could feel his back shattering. Han Xiao endured the pain and glided forward. He turned around and fired the last of the remaining bullets. Han Xiao focused his attention on Luo’s legs.

Luo used too much of her stamina in her ambush on Han Xiao. She forced her last bit of energy, but she no longer had the energy maintain the energy shield that protected her from the bullets. A bullet penetrated her knee.

There was a change in the Luo’s expressions. She understood the fact that she was facing a sniper, and the reduction in her mobility would lead to fatal consequences. In her state of panic, she wanted to use all her energy and deliver one final blow to Han Xiao.

She was attempting to paralyze Han Xiao’s movement by blowing up his legs!

Once Han Xiao succeeded in his attacks, he quickly pulled away from the two of them. As the energy shield collapsed, it created an explosion that resulted in a huge crater at his original position!

Luo’s heart sank. Her legs went limp, and now she really was reduced to sitting duck for Han Xiao’s attacks. Han Xiao fired his shots from afar, and all she could to was forcefully repel the bullets. Her energy was on the verge of depleting completely, and desperation filled her heart.

Sh*t! I’m done!

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Han Xiao, who had retreated quite some distance, fired his rifle on a stable platform and expended all of Luo’s energy. Finally, a bullet pierced through her head. She collapsed with fury and unwillingness in her eyes.

_____________________

You killed Luo (Level 30).

You gained 12,000 Experience.

̄̄̄̄̄̄̄̄̄̄̄̄̄̄̄̄̄̄̄̄̄̄̄̄̄̄̄̄̄̄̄̄̄̄̄̄̄̄̄̄̄̄̄̄

Han Xiao heaved a sigh of relief. He could finally relax his senses. He did not have time whine about the pain from his burns. He immediately moved toward Su Li’s body and retrieved the pair of black gloves form her hands.

_____________________

You have gained two [Thermo-electrical Incisor Gloves].

——————————————————————

The functioning of the gloves was based the theory of [Basic Thermodynamics], which Han Xiao had not yet mastered. There was a ‘micro electricity to heat transformer’ embedded within the gloves. The power source of the gloves was a high voltage battery since the gloves needed a huge amount of electricity to be powered. The gloves had immense power and was able to deal multiplied damage to metals.

Han Xiao held onto the gloves for his own use in the future. Speaking of that, Su Li was his first enemy from the mechanic class. It was also the first time he had revealed his gear to his mechanic counterparts.

Mechanical Pugilists made use of one type or a few types of close-combat machinery. They were able to add special effects and abilities to their machines. From the fighting style of Su Li, Han Xiao could infer that she was a mechanical pugilist of a lower level that relied solely on the performance of her equipment.

Some mechanical pugilists also possessed weapons that had special abilities themselves. Once they met the prerequisites, they were able to activate the use of such weapons. Out of the four machine blueprints that Old Man Lu had created, one of the blueprints created a machine that had innate abilities.

With the mission finally complete, it was time to return and collect his rewards.

The image of Felonia suddenly flashed in Han Xiao’s mind, and he decided to take a closer look at Felonia before returning. Han Xiao switched off the EMP interference machine. He did a rough check of the broken components of his vehicle and estimated that the repairs would take him fifteen minutes. He started the repair job immediately.

There was a bunch of wanderers near Felonia just now. I wonder how they’re doing,Han Xiao thought to himself.

…

Half an hour ago…

The entrance to Felonia was a crack in the cliff. The pilgrims scaled the cliff and managed to reach the crack. It was pitch dark in the crack, but it seemed like the crack had a passageway that lead somewhere.

A young pilgrim switched on his torch and shined the light into the alley. The scene before their eyes shocked all of them. Their mouths collapsed in disbelief, and all of them were dumbfounded.

“This… this is…”

As Han Xiao was repairing his vehicle, he was reflecting on the weaknesses that he had revealed in his previous battle.

His current fighting style heavily relied on his sniping abilities. The best tactic he employed was to use his shots to lure his opponents in. However, the speed of his movements was not yet up to standard; thus, he wanted to manufacture some small gadgets to increase his speed.

A mechanical leg seemed like a pretty good idea. However, Han Xiao felt that it was too bulky. Also, Han Xiao had gained new knowledge and experience to create gadgets that were more mobile.

Han Xiao was still trying to improve his fighting abilities. He wanted to create a robot army to provide him sufficient cover fire so that they could help mitigate his weakness, allowing him to fire at a relatively lower rate.

Since mechanical parts could be easily obtained by members of the mechanic class, Han Xiao could find the raw material and replace the missing parts easily.

Upon completing his repairs, Han Xiao drove the vehicle along the path, as directed by the radar coordinates, up to the entrance of Felonia. Instantly, he saw the trail of footsteps that disappeared along the edges of the cave. After a short moment of contemplation, he predicted that a group of wanderers had entered the cave.

If Han Xiao was an ordinary individual, he probably would have been worried that the valuables housed in the cave had been taken away by others. However, Han Xiao was also unique in his thinking. He felt that having others to explore the unknown territory first was in fact beneficial to him.

Han Xiao stood at the edge of the cave. He looked down and could see the distinct layers of rocks and cliffs. At the boundary between sunlight and darkness, Han Xiao could see a rusty metallic chain extending downward.

There are signs of mining on the rocks of the cliffs. There’s a smell in the air… the smell of rust. I haven’t explored this place before, so I should head down now.

Han Xiao grabbed all his gear, holding his torch in his mouth.

As he scaled down the rocky cliff, he shone his torch downward.

Nearer to the bottom, the sunlight gradually disappeared, and he could feel the curved edges of the rocks.

The sunlight disappeared quickly, and darkness enveloped the surroundings. The only source of light was the torchlight. The eerie atmosphere alarmed Han Xiao. He could feel a chill in his bones that was creeping toward his heart. He wanted to slow down his heart, which was thumping so quickly, so that he could ease the sense of nervousness within him.

After descending for about three minutes, the light from his torch finally hit the ground. At the bottom of the ravine was a dusty metallic floor. There were thick cobwebs in the tracks, and the place seemed like it had not been explored for a long time.

Han Xiao landed on the ground with a ‘thud’. The pitch-black environment made the sound especially eerie and creepy.

The surroundings were specious and empty, and the light from the torch seemed like a lonely island in a sea of darkness. There was a mixture of sounds in the darkness, similar to the sound of his landing. That caught Han Xiao’s attention.

After sweeping the area with his torchlight, Han Xiao found himself in a metallic corridor that had a design similar to a military base. There were reinforced concrete structures everywhere, and the walls were also caked in rust. There also seemed to be some weird bugs moving about on the walls.

The metallic flooring on the ground was covered with dust. A trail of fresh footsteps could be seen extending into the darkness. The footsteps probably belonged to the pilgrims who had arrived at the spot shortly before him

There probably some more compartments and spaces beneath the metallic floor.

Han Xiao pointed his torchlight in another direction and shone at his foot. He saw what was beneath him.

Below the hollow metallic flooring, there were countless dense red lights that seemed like they were emitted by the eyes of insects.

Holy shit!

Han Xiao could feel the tension in his head. He immediately dimmed the torchlight and marked out the bottom layer as a prohibited sector.

With that in mind, Han Xiao carefully followed the footsteps of the pilgrims forward. It was dead silent apart from the occasional faint sounds of crawling insects. However, if one tried to pick out these sounds individually, they would just disappear. It was very creepy and made Han Xiao uncontrollably nervous.

After walking for long while, a junction appeared in front of him. The footprints of the pilgrims led toward the path on the right.

While Han Xiao was in a dilemma over which path to take, he heard footsteps from the path on the right. He could see many people running toward him hysterically.

Han Xiao immediately moved to the other side of the junction. He switched off his torch and put on the night vision visor that Fabian Company had provided.

“Run, quickly run!”

“A monster!”

The frantic pilgrims ran out of the junction as if they were escaping from some creature. Their clothing had many blood stains. Also, the size of the group was much smaller.

What are these guys hiding from? Han Xiao was puzzled.

Suddenly, from the nearby path, there was a deep growl that originated from a beast. The growl was raspy and deep, like the sigh of a giant. The instant he heard the sound, Han Xiao felt his pulse running wild, and an uncomfortable sensation began to build up in his heart.

This is a threat from a high-level beast. It is definitely above LV 40!

The pilgrims looked fearful. It was as if they had seen something unimaginable. Using their hands and leg, they were crawling hysterically backward.

However, the beast never walked out of the dark. The pilgrims fell to the ground. They were relieved that they had managed to escape from the clutches of the beast.

There were no sounds of footsteps made by the beast.

“Joel was eaten by the beast…”

“This place is too scary.”

The pilgrims were shivering, and shock was clearly written on their faces. It was as if all their energy was being drained away. They said, “This place is not Felonia. We will not find the things we want here. Let’s leave and continue the hunt for the real ruins.”

According to legend, the magical ruins were supposed to be mysterious and archaic. There were supposed to be countless incomprehensible carving. The ruins were also a city made from rocks and boulders. However, they were in a man-made metallic base. On the walls, there were symbols that looked like the coat of arms of the ancient kingdom. The place was probably the secret military facility of the ancient kingdom.

The pilgrims calmed down. A young pilgrim said, “Maybe this place is indeed the Felonia we have been searching for. Our former country found the ruins of Felonia and decided to build a facility to study the treasure of the ruins.”

The treasure of the desert was the treasure mentioned in the legend of Felonia. As long as one possessed the treasure, one would be able to control the Somar desert.

The old pilgrims shook their heads and said with a bitter laugh, “Impossible. If the ancient kingdom had the treasure, why would the regime be destroyed?”

“This is not the place we are looking for. The real ruins of Felonia must be hidden in some other corner of the desert!”

The old pilgrims sounded assertive and firm.

The pilgrims helped on another up and left the place.

After Han Xiao heard their conversations, he was also confused. Based on his knowledge, there were no magical elements present on Planet Aquamarine. The so-called treasure of the desert was probably some advanced technological weaponry.

However, people would often overthink scenarios or incidents they did not understand. They would therefore create unrealistic stories. Furthermore, they would be very firm and confident that their unrealistic imagination was in fact the reality. Han Xiao thought of the story of a man who did not escape when his home was flooded. Instead, he waited atop the roof of his house for God to send him an ark.

He could not understand why the pilgrims were so adamant about linking Felonia with magic. However, that seemed to be none of his concern… unless it was the hint for another hidden mission?

Han Xiao regained his senses, and he revealed himself after the pilgrims left. He was also unsure which path to take at the junction.

The pilgrims said that there was a monster on the route at the right. However, the path on the left was unknown territory, and it could very well be more dangerous. How should he decide?

Based on my experience, these pilgrims are bait to lure me into the Instance Dungeon. They hinted that there was a monster on the right. There are two interpretations of their words. The first is that they are right. The second is that they are leading me to the path on the left on purpose.

Han Xiao ground his teeth firmly and chose to walk the path on the right. The unknown was definitely scarier than the monster. He then remembered the bugs he had seen during his descent and their dense red eyes. If he was to run into those creepy crawlies, his skin was bound to shed from all their bites.

Han Xiao wore the thermo-electrical incisor gloves. He was not using any torchlight; he only had his night-vision visors on. After entering the path on the right, there was dark green filled his vision. He could barely see the road ahead.

There were abnormally large footprints on the ground. The footprints were the work of the monster. Like humans, the monster had two legs and five toes on each foot. The monster was estimated to be three meters tall.

Han Xiao walked for a while, and he came across a room its door wide opened. The footprints of the monster stopped there.

Han Xiao nudged closer to the door, and he could smell a disgusting stench that seemed like rotting meat. There was also a faint odor of blood.

He raised his head and looked inside of the room.

A pair of eyes, which were as large as bronze bells, was staring at him. He was only half a meter away from the monster!

Han Xiao was both shocked and frightened.

The magnetically controlled retractable armor was ready to be activated. Han Xiao was either going to fight or escape.

However, the monster was merely staring in the direction of the door. It was as if the monster had not noticed the existence of Han Xiao. It was standing there without moving.

Night-blindness?

Han Xiao felt a tinge of elation in his heart. Luckily, he did not switch on his torch, else he would have suffered the fate of the pilgrims before him.

Standing three meters tall, the monster had a human shape, and layers of muscles could be seen on his body. The muscles stacked together like little hills. However, the muscular body did not look aesthetically pleasing. Instead, the elongated muscles turned people off. The muscles were also rotting. There were even holes at certain areas, and plump maggots could be seen crawling around the rotting meat.

Compared its massive body, the head and neck of the creature were especially small. The skin of the monster was stretched tight by the muscles. The face of the creature also looked disproportionate. Looking at his face, one would automatically think of other abnormal individuals, like the Deformed Devil and the Sun Knight.

Han Xiao scanned the layout of the room. There was a bunch of medical equipment and four pods that were probably used for experiments. Two of the pods had been crushed. One of them was closed. There was only one free pod available for use.

There were liquid-delivery tubes on the pods. They were attached to a transparent container that only had stains of the neon-like liquid left.

Han Xiao moved backwards carefully. When he realized that the monster was still not moving, he heaved a sigh of relief. He walked down the corridor and quickly reached the second and third metal gates. The rusty gates were all locked up tight by another metallic barrier. The card-reader was so rusty that it could no longer be used.

Han Xiao did not give up because of that. He took the card-reader apart to check out its model.

Hmmm… I can’t tell.

That’s not important!

This place was a secret military facility decades ago. However, the facility was abandoned a couple of years back, and it was probably a site used for biochemical experiments. The experiments probably failed… or could they have succeeded? The muscular creature really doesn’t look like a normal biological organism. Wait, the corridor can’t be so long. How big is this base exactly?

There was silence throughout the dark corridor. The deeper one ventured into the corridor, the darker it got. Even the night-vision visor only had a visibility radius of five meters. The surrounding environment beyond that was a mystery to Han Xiao. Fortunately, he was lucky to not have claustrophobia or a phobia of darkness.

Han Xiao felt like he was walking on the edge of a knife; danger seemed imminent. Although Han Xiao was no chicken, he could feel cold sweat breaking out from all areas of his body. That was the innate reaction of any living being that was going to face an upcoming, unknown danger. Han Xiao knew that being too nervous would affect his ability to make good decisions quickly at stressful moments. He started chanting something under his breath to keep his nerves at bay.

“Stay calm even when the sky collapses. The breeze is so soothing. The waves are not choppy. The height of the mountain does not matter. There will be a fairy. A horse may be old, but it is still ambitious…”

In actual fact, Han Xiao was also unsure of what he was mumbling. However, after his chants, he no longer felt so nervous.

Along the way, he saw more than ten gates, but only the one leading to the room housing the beast was opened. The rest of the gates were all shut tightly. Eventually, he reached the end of the corridor, and a larger gate stood before his eyes. That was probably the main room. The metallic barrier was lower by a third of the distance, and he was able to enter the room.

That was the second room that one could enter. Based on the logic behind the Instance Dungeon, there was probably some useful information there.

The room seemed to be a gigantic lab. There were rusty machines everywhere, and experiment pods were sitting in the center of the room.

It seems like there is no danger.

The dust in the room choked him, and the pungent rotting smell filled his nose. There was a corpse on the table, and it was shriveled up. There were torn fragments of fabric on the body, and Han Xiao could faintly tell that the pieces of cloth belonged to a white lab coat.

Han Xiao found a book at the table near the body. He wiped the dust from the cover of the book in an attempt to find out some useful information. After taking a closer look at it, he realized it was a diary.

“13 July. The professor modified the Felonia serum for the 67th time and injected it into the lab rat. The effects are amazing and have exceeded our expectations. It there are no negative reactions, we can proceed with human trials.”

“17 July. The lab rat is dead. It is a failure. The cause of death is organ failure. The professor is disappointed. He locked himself up in his room. I could hear him smashing things in his office. The lab report for the experiment was missing.”

“20 July. The professor insisted on carrying out human trials. The higher ups approved the professor’s request. This is insane! Have they all forgotten about Experiment 000? The lab report for the experiment was torn and missing.”

“26 July. The base released a new set of regulations. All researchers are supposed to submit their electronic devices. We are not allowed to connect to any external networks. Are we going to be defeated?”

“5 August. This is the 7th day of experiment 008. The human subject is in a stable condition. There are no special changes in the subject. The professor is dejected.”

“11 August. The higher-ups sent out orders for us to retreat. The battle is not going well for our side, and we have to preserve whatever resources are left. Everyone is feeling scared. As usual, the professor is unwilling to face the reality that we have been defeated. I have prepared myself mentally for this outcome. I noticed that the guards protecting the base have become sparser over the past few months. That is probably due to the fact that most of them were being deployed to the frontline as reinforcements. Damn it, if I did not leave my post as a military doctor, I will not be stuck in this depressing facility. Everyone looks so gloomy here. There is no life! I hate his place!”

“14 August. We will be retreating tomorrow. We are heading to Base 03 to seek shelter. There is not much time. We backed up all data related to the Felonia Serum. The guards are so rough. They want to blow the entire facility up. The professor took some serums with him. The rest of the serums were all destroyed.”

The entries in the diary stopped there. Han Xiao flipped back to the front, but he could not find any more valuable information. Many pages were torn away from the diary.

The corpses at the side evidently showed that the people in the facility did not manage to escape. An accident must have happened between August 14th and August 15th that resulted in the deaths of the researchers and guards in the facility. Also, most of them had died in the basement. That explained the countless red-eyed Necro-worms active in the basement that Han Xiao had seen—the worms fed on the dead bodies!

What’s a Felonia Serum? Han Xiao was intrigued by the serum. He suddenly remembered the dried-up liquid in the previous lab’s experimental pod. That must have been what was left of the serum. The diary also noted that the “professor has the serum”. The body of the professor was most likely in the basement. Han Xiao had no interest in entering the restricted area. Therefore, it was probably impossible for him to obtain the serum.

Seems like there will be no interesting discoveries this time round. Han Xiao shook his head in disappointment. He then looked up and took a deep breath.

He saw a block box in the center of the table. He walked toward it hastily and opened the cover of the box. There were three tubes of a fluorescent serum in the box.

At that instant, an ancient saying flashed in his mind— In times of desperation, there will eventually be light. What you search so hard for can actually be obtained so easily. In fact, it is just right before your eyes if turn back and take a closer look.

Han Xiao looked at the body on the table. He bit his lip and wondered to himself, Could the dead body be the professor?

Han Xiao grabbed the three serums and scanned through liquid in the tubes.

Where on earth do you find a serum of such a weird color?

_____________________

You gained [Felonia Serum (Incomplete)] x 3.

Felonia Serum (Incomplete): It is a serum with the medicinal ability to improve one’s physical capability. The formula has yet to be perfected. After the usage of the serum, mutation is a distinct possibility.

Note, these are the last three remaining Felonia Serums.

——————————————————————

Ah a biochemical serum. A serum without a tested and proven formula is highly dangerous. The serums I possess are incomplete products. It is highly likely for mutations to occur if I injected the serum into my body. I will probably become the muscular beast I just saw…

Han Xiao felt a cold shiver up his spine.

There is probably nothing else left here. I am going to leave this place as soon as possible. This place is very creepy.

Han Xiao turned around and met the gaze of the muscular monster standing there silently.

The monster raised it muscular arm and slammed his hand down at Han Xiao as if he were a fly. There was a change in the air pressure from the immense force exerted by the hand, suffocating Han Xiao.

As the rotting stench filled his nostrils, Han Xiao quickly slid to dodge the attack like a mudskipper. The monster’s strike missed him by a few millimeters, the strong wind blowing his hair into a mess.

When the monster’s palm hit the ground, there was a huge boom. A dent was created in the ground, and dust could also be seen rising into the air. Han Xiao immediately held his breath and squinted to prevent the dust from entering his body.

He fired the Berserk Eagles violently at the rotting flesh of the monster, sending smelly puss spurting into the air.

_____________________

You dealt 57 points of damage to Subject 002!

You have entered combat mode. Based on your current level, you will have access to the following information:

Subject 002:

Level: 42

Main Class: Low-level mutated organism (Endurance to HP conversion ratio is at 1:100)

Attributes: 65 S trength, 20 Dexterity, 60 (90) Endurance, 1 Intelligence, ? Mystery, ? Charisma, ? Luck

Energy: 0

Energy Rank: 0

Health: 1854/7800 (Constant decomposition)

Status: Intense decomposition—Defense -25, Endurance -30—All traits are in serious decline.

Specialties:

– Physical Improvement: Strength +5, Endurance +10

– Mid-level HP Boost: Additional increase in HP from the conversion of endurance. The ration is 1:30.

– ???

Skills:

– Silent Movement LV 12

– Heavy Smash LV 8

– Collide LV 5

– ???

——————————————————————

Although for normal players, the professional level was usually capped at LV 10, there were some professions that allowed for higher levels. Low-level mutated organism was one of such special cases.

As Han Xiao fired both his pistols continuously at the target, the large diameter bullets slammed into the body of Subject 002, forming holes in the monster’s body.

With every shot, a bang resounded through the base.

The commotion is too much for me to handle. I need to end the battle fast. Han Xiao had a heavy heart. Luckily, Subject 002 was in a rather poor physical state. If the monster had full HP, it would have been tough for him to escape.

Subject 002 seemed to be unable to feel pain. It lowered its head and barged toward the target. Han Xiao felt like a steam train was barging at him!

Swiftly stowing his pistols, he took out his blade. He slashed the retractable machete hard at the skull of the monster. With a ‘Dang’, the blade pierced hard into the skull. Puss spilled out from the monster’s head. Han Xiao was also hit by the monster’s charge. He only had the time to put his hands before him, and it felt like he was facing a wild rhinoceros. He was unable to keep his balance and moved backward. While moving back, he crashed into two experiment platforms and could feel a sharp pain in his hip bone. There was also an acute pain in his chest that made him short of breath.

Multiple injuries suffered by Han Xiao flashed on the screen of the interface.

Han Xiao’s blade was still stuck in the bones and flesh of Subject 002. The yellowish puss was flowing out of the wound seamlessly. The monster attempted to growl in anger, but it could only make shrieks since its vocal chords were also decomposing. The monster’s fists fired out rapidly, creating strong gusts of wind that brought the dust along. However, the motion of the punches thrown by the monster was easily discernable for Han Xiao.

The collision he had experienced previously was definitely a skill of the monster that could not be used repeatedly. Han Xiao also wanted to observe if the enemy had any specific weaknesses. The conclusion was clear. The monster really did not have a brain and could move its body even when its brain was being hacked.

Han Xiao dodged the fists of the monster. He quickly moved to the back of Subject 002 and activated the thermo-electrical incisor gloves. He pressed the gloves hard on the enemy, and a glaring pale-blue light was released in the darkness. The gloves were scorching, and the heat burnt through the rotten muscle tissues of the monster. There was an intense charred smell in the air.

Han Xiao managed to grab a sticky internal organ of the monster. He tried to rip it hard with his hands, and white smoke emerged in the air. Subject 002 was constantly trying to wave its hands and attack Han Xiao, but Han Xiao managed to evade the attacks.

The thermo-electrical incisor gloves were able to cause high damage to the enemy continuously. In less than ten seconds, it inflicted a total damage of around 800 HP. The heat from the gloves managed to scorch the body of the monster.

After flashing for a few times, the light from the gloves disappeared, indicating that the battery providing power to the gloves had been depleted. The battery powering the gloves could only sustain the gloves’ activities for a few minutes. Su Li had used the gloves before Han Xiao snatched them from her, and Han Xiao had managed to deplete the last bit of energy left in the gloves’ battery.

Han Xiao retreated quickly, and by utilizing his nimbleness and agility, he managed to evade the attacks of the monster. The monster was like a low-level creature with almost zero intelligence. Although it was physically strong, it was no match of Han Xiao’s quickness and intelligence. Only the monster’s charges were considered threatening.

Han Xiao made good use of the terrain and obstacles around to evade the monster’s attacks and finally defeated the monster with his never-ending gunshots.

The monster swirled unsteadily on the spot like it was drunk before collapsing to the ground. The monster stopped breathing, and the puss flowed out of the monster’s gunshot wounds.

_____________________

You killed Subject 002 (LV 42).

You gained 32,000 Experience.

_____________________

As you killed an enemy that is ten levels higher, there will be an addition gain of experience by 280%. The total experience gained will be 89,600. Your rate of contribution: 23.7%

You gained an additional 21,235 (23.7%) experience points.

——————————————————————

A shuffling sound could be heard. It grew louder. The sound surrounded the entire area. Limbs started to protrude out of the cracks in the metallic flooring.

Han Xiao realized that something was wrong. His expression changed drastically, and he started fleeing toward where he had come from.

There was a huge boom from afar that sounded like the collision between metallic objects. There were also roars from a beast, and they sounded as if they were heading in Han Xiao’s direction.

All signs indicated that although he had successfully wiped out Subject 002, he had triggered the activity of something else.

Han Xiao had managed to kill Subject 002. However, as recorded by the diary, the last subject of the series of experiments was Subject 008, and that meant that there were a couple more monsters like Subject 002. Perhaps, these monsters were even stronger and wandering about the various corners of the base. Since Han Xiao had already obtained what he wanted, it was time for him to flee.

Ignoring all sorts of creepy sounds, Han Xiao fled the base at the speed of light. He managed to leave the area safely and started crawling back up the cliff. The light from the sun hit his body, and he could finally relax his senses. The abandoned facility had an atmosphere that was too creepy. It was as if danger was everywhere. He had felt like he was walking along a tightrope in midair.

Fortunately, he had managed to obtain the three tubes of Felonia Serum, and Han Xiao could not imagine the value of these serums. However, he had no time to check out his loot. The different military groups in the Somar desert would quickly arrive after discovering the events that had occurred in the area.

With that thought in mind, Han Xiao left the area on his jeep.

About an hour after Han Xiao left the scene, the fleets of vehicles arrived at the entrance to Felonia. They all looked at the entrance of the cave in shock. They subsequently informed their wealthy sponsors about their discovery. The different military groups were all eyeing the hidden treasure of Felonia, and they were willing to fight it out to achieve their goal.

The leaders of these militias sent out orders for their troops to explore the facility.

The militants eventually put their battles on hold and sent reconnaissance groups into the facility. The huge amount of people entering the facility made it seem less creepy and frightening.

“There are Desert Necro-worms in the basement.”

“Tell someone up top to bring the flame-throwers down.”

The flamethrowers started spitting fire through the metallic flooring into the basement compartment where the worms were active. The worms squealed as they were engulfed in the flames. The mixture of the smell of the burnt worms and the rotting stench of the facility was nauseating.

The Desert Necro-worms were relatively short, less than ten centimeters, and they looked like centipedes with beetle-like shells. There were antennae on the worms’ heads, and their red eyes could also be seen. They had pincers that could slice one’s bones and could also be used for the ingestion of their prey.

There were tens of thousands of such worms in the facility, and the waves of worms started to retaliate. The worms crawled up and approached the militants from two directions. The various militias decided to team up in a defense against these worms. They used their flame-throwers and bullets to push back the waves of worms.

Just as the situation stabilized, the worms suddenly dispersed, and a few rotting creatures barged out. They did not care about the bullets or flames and penetrated the formation set up by the troops.

The militants were all astonished.

“What’s that? They look so fucking disgusting!”

“Maintain formation.”

“Fuck, the worms are invading our positions!”

“Kill the monster first… wait, there are three monsters!”

“We need back up. I repeat, we need back up!”

The gunshots went on for a while before the scene fell silent.

There were burnt worms and their shells everywhere. The monsters had been battered to death by the bullets and embers. The militants had also suffered substantial losses. The only consolation was that they had won the battle.

Couton kicked the corpse of the dead monster and muttered, “They look like experimental subjects of a series of biochemical experiments.”

The troops started clearing the battlefield. They ventured up and down the base to explore the area. They blew up the gates to check out the locked rooms but unfortunately did not find anything. There was only rusty equipment and a couple of documents in the facility that the troops found valuable and kept.

The most valuable discovery were the last dregs of the dried-up neon-colored serum left in the experimental pod and the dead body of the experiment subject. These items led to the secret that the leaders of these militant groups were looking for. Perhaps they could test the effects of the serum in their own labs. However, looking at the monsters that the experimental subjects had turned into, it seemed that the serum was not yet complete.

The militants went into the lab that Han Xiao had discovered no long ago, and they found another dead experimental subject—Subject 002—with fresh wounds.

“Someone came ahead of us!”

Couton looked into the case that housed the three tubes of serum, and it was empty. There were signs that someone had tampered with the case.

His eyes instantly lit up.

The trip to Somar Desert was concluded.

The allocated time for the quest was fifteen days, but Han Xiao took only six days to complete it.

As Fabian Company’s carrier aircraft landed in Morning Wind City’s airport, Han Xiao rushed to Hotel Victoria without a break to complete his quest at the Blood Pact Society’s floor.

The server quickly reported it to the higher management level. Soon, the person in-charge came to receive Han Xiao.

In a private VIP lounge, Han Xiao was leaning comfortable on the sofa as he waited for the person in-charge to confirm his quest details.

On an unknown floor, a Dark Net recorder opened the bounty page for the Rose Militant and updated the activity log.

“688.4.1, Code Name – Mr. Black (Scorpion)

“Date: 688.4.7

“Assignment completed.”

This report was sent to the database, so at the same time, all assassins of the Blood Pact Society received a text message about the removal of the Rose Militant assignment.

…

“Mr. Black, your bounty assignment has been verified. We will immediately transfer the funds into your account.”

Ding!

Han Xiao looked at the computer—his Dark Net account had just received three million dollars, which amounted to five million dollars in his account. He realized that the rate of profit from doing bounty hunter assignments was way faster than making machinery.

It was a killing.

In the old days, this assignment was completed by a fifteen-member team, so the profit was divided equally between everyone. This time, Han Xiao took the profit alone, making it a colossal windfall.

_____________________

You have completed the quest [Bounty Hunter (Rose Militant)].

You gained 15,000 Experience.

Hidden Quest Requirement: ‘Discover the Felonia Plan’ completed. You gained 25,000 additional Experience; you gained a special reward [Mid-grade gene-blending potion (4.37% Low Concentration) x 1

Reputation with the Blood Pack Society increased by 550 points. Currently Neutral (550/1000) – [Scorpion-level Assassin]

——————————————————————

Han Xiao’s eyes shimmered. Gene-blending potion was a very powerful game item—it was chiefly used to reduce the failure and mutation rate of biochemicals!

Biochemicals were a common type of drug for increasing character stats, but any use of biochemicals came with inherently risks, which included the possibility of a decrease in stat points and malignant mutations. Additionally, different biochemicals would have conflicts that resulted in further side effects. Gene-blending potion could remove these inherent risks of biochemicals to a certain degree.

No wonder. If I did not risk going into the abandoned base and discover the Felonia Serum, this special reward would not have been useful.

Han Xiao suddenly understood the crux of the matter. The rewards of this quest were linked closely to his actions. This potion was the extra reward for exploring the place, and Subject 002 was akin to a mini-boss that guarded the blood serum.

His cautiousness during the exploration helped him avoid many more difficult barriers. The footsteps of the pilgrims were secretly hinting the player in the correct direction. If he had ignored the hint and walked in the opposite direction, he would have been surrounded and attacked by a bunch of test subjects and Desert Necro-worms.

If he feared the monster and moved to the left side, he would have missed discovering the blood serum.

And if he had moved to the right side while using a torch, he would have triggered the battle with Subject 002 at the first gate. The small passageway would not have allowed him to evade and move forward properly. He was highly likely to have retreated.

Lastly, if he had continued exploring greedily after getting the blood serum, he would have suffered the same consequences as the first scenario.

The reward was really a pleasant surprise; Han Xiao could not wait to research it. After submitting the assignment, he got up and was about to leave. However, the person in-charge suddenly said, “Mir. Black. May I ask you to stay in the Morning Wing City for two days? An important guest wants to meet with you.”

“Important guest?” Han Xiao was puzzled.

“An emissary from the Rothschild family, the client for the Rose Militant assignment. He hopes to meet up with you.”

Could it be to do with Felonia? Han Xiao’s eyes flashed before he said, “Please inform him that I will be glad to meet up with him.”

The person in-charge was delighted. “Alright then.”

Han Xiao left Hotel Victoria and went back to Antonio’s base. He immediately entered his temporary workshop and took out the Felonia serum and the gene-blending Potion.

The Felonia serum had a yellow fluorescence. It was sealed nicely and thus did not go bad after so many years.

The gene-blending potion was as dense as mercury, and it had little shiny star-like sparkles that made it glitter.

To use or not to use? That was the question.

The Felonia serum was a secret game item that he had never seen before this. The gene-blending potion would greatly reduce the risk of using it, so it was rather safe.

After Han Xiao calculated his chance of success, he decided to roll the dice. With the help of the gene-blending potion, even if the serum failed, he would not become like the muscular and ugly-looking test subjects.

He took out a syringe and a catheter. He then poked the syringe into the vein on his arm, injecting the gene-blending potion first.

A cool and refreshing sensation was carried by his blood circulation and distributed throughout his body. He felt as if he had just taken a refreshing bite of ice-cream in the blazing summer heat. His mind was simultaneously calmed. The gene-blending potion was not harmful to the body, and if it was not activated by a biochemical, its effect would gradually disappear.

Han Xiao took a deep breadth before he started injecting the blood serum. The fluorescent serum passed through the catheter and entered his bloodstream.

The feeling of his body swelling was instantly felt!

“Hiss…” Han Xiao gritted his teeth. He was spasming due to the overwhelming pain he felt throughout his entire body. He felt as if the interior of his body had been blown up into a paste—bones smashed into ashes, blood vessels broken apart, and muscles melted. The insufferable pain hit his brain without a stop, and he almost fainted!

‘Real’ players had only needed to rely on progress bars for using in-game items and making machinery. Therefore, the maximum pain they could feel was limited.

But Han Xiao had to experience the pain in reality!

Of course, being able to experience the reality was more advantageous to him. He had already gained a lot of benefits from it. True pain was just the required cost of the deal.

After some unknown amount of time, the overwhelming pain gradually subsided. Han Xiao’s eyes were filled with blood vessels, and he exhaled a heavy heap of murky air. He felt his nerves had suffered a horrifying torture.

He took a look at his body and was glad to find that it did not change. He did not become a muscular monster. It was still the same old handsome-looking body.

He did not have the energy to read his interface during the process, but now that it was over, he realized that it was flooded with lines and lines of information.

_____________________

You used a Felonia Blood Serum (Incomplete).

Mutation Progress: 12%.

Mutation succeeded! (Failure rate was reduced by Gene-blending Potion)

_____________________

You used a Felonia Blood Serum (Incomplete).

Mutation Progress: 46%; Mutation succeeded!

_____________________

You used a Felonia Blood Serum (Incomplete).

Mutation Progress: 73%; Mutation succeeded!

_____________________

You used a Felonia Blood Serum (Incomplete).

Mutation Progress: 100%.

Mutation Completed! Compatibility: Good

You gained 3 Strength and 5 Endurance!

You gained the ability [Basic Strengthen Life]!

_____________________

Han Xiao was dumbfounded. He glanced at his stat board with a look of disbelief as the new ability [Basic Strengthen Life] appeared.

I possess a Molding ability! Han Xiao was utterly shocked.

There was a special type of ability called a Molding ability. As far as he knew, he had not heard about any ‘real’ player obtaining this type of ability as it belonged exclusively to NPCs and Bosses, and it had very powerful effects. It was even rare for NPCs to have it.

Just by looking at its effects, one would immediately realize how powerful this type of ability was. [Basic Strengthen Life] would turn Endurance into extra Health Points with a conversion ratio of 1 to 15. This meant that with the 60 Endurance Points that Han Xiao had right now, he instantly gained 990 more Health Points to reach more than 2000 Health Points, almost doubling his existing HP.

Furthermore, the effect of this ability would increase as his Endurance increased further, providing him even more HP.

Han Xiao was only LV 30, and his HP had broken the 2,000 mark. The LV 38 Pugilist Pan Kuang did not even have as much HP as him.

If a ‘real’ player used the Felonia serum, they would probably only gain stat points, without the Molding ability.

This ability, my magnetic armor, and all the future mechanical armors will together make my tank ability so powerful that my enemies will vomit from trying to kill me.

Han Xiao was pleasantly surprised; he was very satisfied with the new ability as it gave him additional insurance.

He had benefited greatly from this quest.

From quest rewards, rewards from killing the enemies, and rewards from producing machinery during his free time, he had accumulated over 700,000 Experience on his interface!

He then counted the number of blueprints he had—19—just one more away from finishing the job advancement quest. Han Xiao contemplated for a moment and decided to produce some equipment that would boost his movement speed.

_____________________

Do you wish to proceed with talent fusion?

(Level 4 Basic Electromagnetism + Level 4 Basic Energy Theory + Level 4 Basic Mechanical Engineering + Level 2 Basic Bio-engineering)

This fusion will cost you 20,000 Experience!

——————————————————————

The range of blueprints he would get from this fusion was quite large. Han Xiao was uncertain whether he would get the equipment he wanted or not. He prepared himself to fuse three times, and if he did not succeed after three attempts, he would try to invent it by himself.

On his third try, Han Xiao obtained the blueprint for the item that he needed—the Skating Shoes.

Han Xiao scratched his head. He had saved the time needed to invent the shoes by himself by successfully obtaining the desired blueprint on the third try, but one of the two other blueprints was a totally useless blueprint. He was not sure whether he should consider himself lucky or unlucky.

The Skating Shoes, also known as the Electromagnetic Hover-boots, could be worn by an individual or armed on a small robot, and they could greatly enhance movement speed without hindering evading capability.

The other two blueprints were named Swarm and Heart, respectively.

_____________________

You have completed your Job Advancement Quest.

Job advancement successful!

You gained a new job [Mechanic (Trainee)]

+50 Energy, +1 Dexterity, +4 Intelligence; +1 Endurance, + 3 Unassign Stats, +1 Talent Point

You learned [Meticulous Repairs]!

You learned [Medium Enhancement]!

——————————————————————

Repair and Enhancement, the two core skills of a Mechanic, had finally evolved.

Mechanic (Trainee) was the third stage of a Mechanic’s job, but the Experience required to reach Level1 was not much since the job had a maximum level of 15.

Han Xiao gained three stat points at once.

His total level was at 34, and as usual, he threw all the stat points gained into Intelligence.

Han Xiao still had some leftover Experience. He thought for a moment before he decided to upgrade [Continuous Gliding Shots]. This skill had helped him numerous times, and Mechanics lacked battle skills, so every single active skill was important to them. Additionally, he was not in a rush to upgrade [Overload] as its Level1 effect was powerful enough for now.

[Continuous Gliding Shots] was raised to Level4, and its effect was strengthened. However, at the same time, it would consume 8 Energy. Han Xiao now had close to 900 Energy, more than enough to spend on this skill.

He had once again spent all his Experience.

He had spent a large sum of Experience in exchange for an improvement in his fighting capability. His character’s bare Energy Rank exceeded the 500 mark, and when he coordinated with his machinery, it would reach up to 700. He could now beat Pan Kuang easily if they were to fight again without the help of Norsa’s Character Summoning Card.

With a huge sum of money in his wallet, Han Xiao could spend extravagantly. He purchased a new batch of mechanical parts from Fabian Company.

In one day, using the skills from his job advancement, Han Xiao upgraded all his equipment and made blueprints for new items.

The Electromagnetic Hover-boots looked like a pair of metal boots. The heels and soles had a special device that could utilize the electromagnetic field to reduce surface friction. The power for which was generated by the high-energy battery inside the boots. The user could glide and coast on any type of surface, as if ice-skating, at an extremely high speed that was comparable to that of a car. The battery could supply enough energy for the boots to run at maximum power output for twenty minutes.

Han Xiao then painted the boots in silver and black stripes, and they looked stylish. Also, he conveniently added breathable knitting, a spongy cushion, and leather exterior for the boots. The boots were now comfortable for every day wear. One did not need to change into them only during battles.

Soon, the Rothschilds’ representative visited him.

In Hotel Victoria, Alphonsus was seated in the VIP lounge. He rested his hands on his knees while he waited for his guest to arrive.

As the door opened and Han Xiao walked in, Alphonsus got up and held out his hand elegantly as he said with a deep and magnetic voice, “I am Alphonsus from the Rothschild Family. I want to discuss some matters with you.”

Han Xiao went on to shake his hand. He felt Alphonsus’ thumb pressing firmly on the area between his thumb and index finger while he steadily shook for a moment. It was the type of handshake that was habitual for a person of authority, mostly used to exert dominance over the other person. This kind of handshake was easy to recognize for Han Xiao as his grandfather used to do it.

The principle was rather simple: just like how perverts would lightly scratch a girl’s hand when they shook her hand, a person of different status, job, or identity would have different habits. Handshakes would differ greatly depending on the people executing and receiving it, such as a subordinate seeking a favor from his boss, a male trying to seduce a lady, a person meeting a stranger, or two people of high-status fighting against each other.

Alphonsus was clearly not just a simple envoy. Han Xiao could already guess at the Rothschild Family’s purpose for meeting him.

As both were seated, Alphonsus said, “The assignment for Rose Militant has been on the list for nearly three years, and many assassins failed miserably. You, Mr. Black, actually completed it alone, much to my surprise.”

“You flatter me. This was just a standard operation, nothing to praise.”

Yet, your tone does not sound at all humble, Alphonsus quietly thought.

The two made some small talk before Han Xiao cut straight to the point. “Our relationship is only limited to that between a client and an assassin. Since the assignment is completed, we have no need for any further association. You clearly came to visit me for something else.”

“You are right. I am here to ask you some questions.” Alphonsus nodded. His body suddenly leaned forward, creating a hint of tension. He stared right at Han Xiao and said solemnly, “Did you visit an abandoned base in the Somar Desert?”

Alphonsus continuously observed Han Xiao’s expression and eyes whilst he spoke. He would immediately know that Han Xiao was lying if he showed any hint of hesitation. The Rothschild Family knew about the research project from the experiment diary taken from the base, and they highly valued it. If they could obtain the Felonia serum, they might be able to produce unique items from it.

Much to his surprise, Han Xiao actually took out a tube of yellow-fluorescent blood serum and place directly on the table.

“Name your price,” he said nonchalantly.

Alphonsus was startled—he did not expect Han Xiao to be so frank.

“This item is useless to me. Since you want it, you can pay to buy it.”

Alphonsus glanced at the serum. He did not worry that Han Xiao was lying to him—those who dared to scam the Rothschild Family had all died.

“How much do you want?”

“It depends on your sincerity.” Han Xiao grinned and looked unfathomable.

This attitude gave Alphonsus a headache. He had been hoping that Han Xiao did not know the value of the blood serum, but based on his behavior, it was unlikely. He hesitated for a long while before he made an honest offer, but it was not a high price considering the item’s rarity.

“One million.”

Every negotiator would always start low. Since they were all civilized gentleman, there was no such thing as killing and robbing; therefore, Alphonsus was ready to spend a fortune on it.

Han Xiao stared at Alphonsus for a moment before he slowly moved his lips. “This price… you didn’t show any sincerity at all.”

Alphonsus was just about to prepare his negotiation speech.

“I accept.”

“This blood serum has been kept for a few dozen years, and I don’t even know if it still works. So, the value is greatly reduced, I…”

“Hold on. You agree with this price‽” Alphonsus looked shocked.

Han Xiao pushed the blood serum toward Alphonsus and smiled. “This is for making a friend.”

Alphonsus started to take a liking for Han Xiao as he had originally planned to spend a fortune on this.

He tucked away the serum and recollected himself. “The funds will be transferred to your account as soon as possible. Also, you will gain the friendship with Rothschild and myself personally.”

_____________________

You unlocked a new camp reputation!

Reputation with the Rothschild Family increased by 1,800 points

The Rothschild Family: Friendly (1,800/3,000)

——————————————————————

Han Xiao smiled lightly; earning reputation points with the Rothschild Family by giving up some money was a very good deal for him. He could always earn money from other places, but the opportunity to unlock a new camp would be fleeting.

Some family conglomerates and corporations existed since the Old Age. After the baptism of war, some families died out while some became even more deep-rooted, for their influence could reach every aspect of their country, including the military, politics, economics, and mafias. Rothschild was one of such families, and Han Xiao knew that he could reap many benefits. To players, this was a support-type camp. They could buy rare items and services from such camps.

The Rothschilds were one of the Dark Net Organization’s allies, and he could use their backing in the organization, which would yield him more advantages.

Without the gene-blending potion, the Felonia serum would not yield him benefits. So, he would rather sell it for some profits. Anyway, he held onto one last tube of the serum.

With another million dollars in his account, his current stash reached six million dollars. They might just be digits in his account, but to put them in context, LV 30 players in Version 1.0 were considered wealthy if they had more than twenty thousand dollars. Anything above a million dollar would be considered astronomical; only major guilds had that kind of money.

After the deal, the atmosphere became more harmonious.

“What exactly is Felonia?” Han Xiao was curious.

He was puzzled by the fact that a simple serum like this was eyed by so many different factions.

Alphonsus was in a happy mood, so he explained, “There was a country in the Somar Desert that was entangled in the wars of the Old Age. They initiated a large-scale research project called the Felonia Project. The name was taken from a legendary tale of the country, and the project involved building many military bases to conduct research in a dozen different branches of technological development. The serum was one of their research directions. ”

“It turned out to be this. I really thought there was some sort of magical ruins.” Han Xiao finally understood the whole thing.

Alphonsus chuckled. “There is no magic in this world. You thought too much.”

Han Xiao laughed and touched his chin. Planet Aquamarine should not have any magic, but why do I have a weird feeling about this?

…

In a pitch-black cavern deep underneath the earth, fine sand dropped through the gaps of the rocks occasionally.

A gush of wind that came from nowhere echoed in the cavern, as if someone was exhaling it. Faint sounds of thunder-like thumps were heard in the background.

Suddenly, six large oval-shaped lamps lit up in the dark. They were golden in color and were divided into two neat and symmetrical rows. From the look of it, each lamp’s radius was more than ten meters.

‘Large lamps’ started flashing rapidly, like eyes blinking.

Eyes.

Alphonsus passed his phone number to Han Xiao. “This is my number. If you need something, just give me a call.”

Han Xiao knocked on the table for a few times before he said, “It just so happen that I have a question. I want to quickly raise my rank and authorization level in the Blood Pact Society. Do you have any good suggestions for me?”

Alphonsus pondered for a moment and decided to do Han Xiao a favor. He asked a sever to bring in the Blood Pact Society’s laptop, and he opened a document to show to Han Xiao. The top of the document was clearly stamped with ‘No Unauthorized Access’.

Han Xiao’s brows furrowed as he read on.

“Internal Call-up (Not Public)

“Call-up Objective: Blood Pact Society Assassins (Dark-level and above), Contract Mercenaries (Two-star and above)

“Current Participants: 18 Assassins, 245 Mercenaries

“Assignment Location: East Stardragon, 20km North of Seagull City, River Valley Manor

“Assignment Details: Defend River Valley Manor, Protect (Redacted)”

“Internal call-up?” Han Xiao questioned.

“Only assassins of dark-level and above will receive this call-up. You are not supposed to participate in this assignment since you are only a scorpion-level assassin. However, I could give you backdoor access to this assignment, and upon completion of this assignment, you can immediately rise to dark-level. Once you arrive at the location, someone will brief you in more detail.”

With so many participants, this assignment is definitely not a small-scale battle,Han Xiao thought silently to himself.

He remembered a reward-pool quest he could do in the Seagull city that was easy and yet could yield him high rewards. It was conveniently on the way.

I will go there and take a look first, Han Xiao decided. Can’t believe I am going back to Stardragon so soon. Luckily, I will not be identified.

Han Xiao’s brows knitted together. Although he left Division 13, the relationship status between Division 13 and him did not change on his Interface. This meant that Division 13 still did not treat him as an enemy.

There was still some time before heading off. He went back to the Fabian Company base and made some machinery that he had been planning to make for some time.

_____________________

Second-Generation Rover (Combat)

Type: Robot

Grade: Dark Green

Basic Stats: 2,200/2,200, 37 Defense, 168 Power Output, 83 Max Speed, 640/640 Energy

Height: 2.1m

Weight: 300kg

Mode of Control: Low-Level Smart Chip (Programmed for automatic enemy identification)

Energy source: High-power energy pack (x4)

Energy Usage: 6/min (low output), 15/min (full output)

Power Capacity: 310/320 Ona

Brain Module: Intelligent Enemy-Seeking Firepower System (occupies 30 capacity units)

Eye Module: Electromagnetic Scanner-Scope, Obstacle-Penetrating Enemy Seeking-Vision (occupies 15 capacity units)

Arm Modules: Large-Caliber Triple-Barrel Machine Gun—70-85 Damage, 3.5 Fire Rate, 30 Magazine Capacity (+60 Belt Capacity), 75 Power Output (occupies 80 capacity units)

Skeleton Module: K600-type Mechanical Skeletal System—30 Strength (occupies 40 capacity units)

Legs Module: Triangular Wheel System and Shock-proof Suspension Frame—reduce impact of treacherous terrain, increase movement speed (occupies 15 capacity units)

Chest Module: Small-Scale Honeycomb Rocket Launcher—equipped with small-scale rockets (180-230 Damage, induces additional explosion damage), 6-round capacity (occupies 110 capacity units)

Abdomen Module: Magazine Storage—small-scale rockets x 12, additional magazine belt x 200 rounds (occupies 20 capacity units)

Skills:

– Furious Fusillade

– Titanium Armor: Reduces physical damage taken by 11%

– Self-destruct: Self-destruct to inflict 340-510 explosion damage in a 40m radius.

Note: A human-shaped tank.

——————————————————————

This Rover was made with much better technology; it was equipped with a smart chip, titanium armor, a high-power battery, and a firepower that was much more fearsome. Han Xiao was a lot richer compared to when he first entered the Western Capital, so he no longer needed to budget carefully. The cost of the second-generation Rover Robot was more than 20,000 dollar—already a discounted price with his more specialized skills in making machinery. It was a price that players of the same level could never afford. The second-generation Rover could be used as a mobile fort. However, it could not be used to work on an independent task as the processing chip did not possess the ability to make independent judgment and tactical analysis.

With such strong firepower, the combat Rover could provide firepower support and area strike. Even after the ammunitions were entirely consumed, the K600-type Mechanical Skeletal System would allow the Rover to have ample close-combat capability. It could charge at full speed to knock down enemies and had the ability to self-destruct.

I can now scale up the production of the Rover, but I cannot carry them around, so I should find a secret base to hide them. Although this type of Rover has great firepower, it does not allow for a quick and rapid change of battlegrounds. I can only use it for stationary battles, so its function is rather singular. The problems lie in areas of movement, core power capacity, and chip processing. I need more advance knowledge, which I have no opportunity to obtain as of now. Hmm, I still have to fight as a sniper for now. I should perfect my sniping capabilities.

As Han Xiao lacked money and the necessary technology, the idea of a robot army could not be realized yet.

Han Xiao stored all his larger equipment in Fabian Company’s warehouse to be transported by air. This time, he paid 50,000 dollars to use Fabian Company’s aero-transport service again. He reckoned no one would spend money as extravagantly as him.

…

The Western Capital was the capital city of Stardragon, and Seagull City was an important city in East Stardragon. It had a large area, and historically, it encountered a beast tide and suffered a great loss as a result. However, it had the aid of the entire nation, which allowed it to rebuild into an important city in the East today.

A monument tens of meters high stood tall in the city center. It was engraved with the names of all those sacrificed in the battle against the beast tide.

In the battle of the Old Age, when Seagull City was met with numerous large-scale terrorist assaults by the Germinal Organization, it received assistance from everywhere again, which made it into an even more prosperous city. The phenomenon was rather peculiar; numerous misfortunes actually allowed the city to develop more rapidly. People in Stardragon believed it was a good omen because it meant that even if Stardragon faced setbacks, it would only bounce back stronger. ‘The Seagull Spirit’ was repeatedly mentioned in every year’s national meetings and nationwide news.

The plane soon landed at the city’s airport. Anyone going in and out of each city in Stardragon had to go through the respective checkpoint. Similarly, landing from air required a permission from the air-control tower in advance. Fabian Company’s planes had private parking spots in the airports of the various cities in Stardragon, and thus, they were authorized to land in these airports. Players could also purchase such spots when their camp reputation was high enough.

“So, why did you follow me this time?” Han Xiao turned around and looked at Antonio at his side.

Antonio inhaled a puff of his cigar and chuckled. “Unfortunately, Fabian Company does not have any assets in Seagull City. We have no choice but to provide the cargo plane as your temporary workshop and warehouse.”

“I see.” Han Xiao understood. Suddenly, he became frustrated because he realized it meant that Fabian Company had no cars for him to borrow. He was tens of kilometers away from the River Valley Manor. Unless I should resort to some old tricks… Puh, do I really have to do the immoral and forbidden act of stealing cars?

He still had his Thorns, but if he drove the car on the streets, a few dozen police cars and special-ops vehicles would follow him in less than ten minutes.

As the old saying goes, when you have a problem, look to the public for a solution.

Han Xiao soon ‘borrowed’ a car from a benevolent member of the public. After he passed through the checkpoint and left the city, he headed straight toward the manor.

It was a small forest with a river twenty kilometers north of Seagull City. Only mid to small size gentle wild animals resided in this forest, so it was not particularly dangerous. Han Xiao located the manor on his map. River Valley Manor was situated in the forest by a river.

It was afternoon when the car drove into the forest. The lazy afternoon sun shone its light through the gaps between the trees, painting the forest with a peaceful ambience. The engine sound scared away a few spotted deer that were asleep.

Han Xiao suddenly snorted through his nose. He detected a light pungent smell. After quickly filtering away the scents of decomposition and bird droppings in his memory, he arrived at his memory of a similar scent.

A light flashed in Han Xiao’s eyes. This is the scent of gun powders. A battle occurred here not long ago.

To avoid a misunderstanding, Han Xiao parked his car and got out his equipment before he started walking toward the manor.

He appeared to be a depressed musician who was carrying a guitar case and wandering around, but in reality, his guitar case was storing his folded sniper rifle and lightweight mechanical arm. His Berserk Eagles and magazines were hidden inside his clothes, his magnetic-controlled armor around his body, his foldable machete under his shirt, the inactive thermo-electrical incisor gloves on his hands, and the silver Electromagnetic Hover-boots on his feet.

The boots looked like an ordinary pair of boots with its leather exterior—one would not discover the metal parts inside without pressing it with one’s hand.

Although he was seemed armed to the teeth, he did not bring along his Wind-slicing blade, Thorns, or the second-generation Rover.

After walking for a while, obvious signs of battle appeared in Han Xiao’s surroundings. There were explosion marks, empty cartridges, tire tracks, and even ashes of more than one burnt vehicle on the ground. It had been a devastating battle. Han Xiao could already see the manor.

Just as Han Xiao was ready to walk over, he suddenly halted.

At the next moment, a bullet hole appeared on the ground in front of him—it was made by a sniper rifle. If he had stepped forward before this, it would have shot his legs.

It was a warning shot.

The shot had come from the direction of the manor.

Han Xiao bent down to dig out the bullet shell from the ground. It was an armor-piercing round.

The people in River Valley Manor were probably all friendlies, so this was just a warning shot. Otherwise, the sniper would have aimed for his vitals. As Han Xiao finished this thought, he took out an old brown coin, raised it, and waved it in the air. The sniper in the manor could definitely see it through their scope.

The coin had been passed to him by Antonio before he departed. He had said that it could be used to vouch for his identity.

After waiting for a minute or so, Han Xiao stepped forward again. Indeed, no one was firing at him this time around. He then successfully arrived at the gate of the manor and realized that the manor’s outer defense had been greatly reinforced. The outer wall had many metal plates, which tightly shielded the inside of the manor. There were marks of previous explosions on those metal plates.

Han Xiao walked in after the gate opened. The layout of the manor was presented before his eyes—it occupied a very large space and was divided into inner and outer layers. The outer layer consisted of all sorts of defense structures, and armed mercenaries were busy patrolling around the area. They talked and gossiped loudly and fervently, unlike regular soldiers who were mostly silent. They were clearly lacking in discipline.

The inner layer was just the center of the manor—a mansion with a garden and a fountain. Black railings surrounded the mansion, clearly demarcating the areas between the inner and outer layers. One could see, through the railings, that no one was in the mansion or garden; it was as if no one lived there.

“Newcomer? You are an assassin, right?”

A buff black man yelled over to Han Xiao from the side. It was the person who had opened the door for him.

Without waiting for Han Xiao to reply, the black man shouted into his walkie talkie, “Chen Li, there is a new assassin here. Quickly come and pick him up.”

“Wait for me. I’ll be there in a minute.” A person was swearing on the other side of the walkie talkie.

The mercenary named Chen Li soon arrived before the gate. He gave the black man a finger before he looked at Han Xiao to size him up. “Come, follow me.”

Han Xiao followed Chen Li to the south-east side of the manor. He got a brief explanation of the manor’s defense structure from Chen Li during this walk. The manor had three sides facing land, and the west side faced the river. Assailants could potentially attack using speedboats, but they would become easy targets if they appeared on the river. So, the river front was the easiest side to defend.

The other two sides of defense were at the South-east and North-east sides. The whole defense structure was triangular. Chen Li oversaw all the mercenaries stationed in the south-east side.

“What kind of assassin are you?” Chen Li asked.

“Sniper.”

“That’s good. We need a long-range attacker. Previously, an assassin who only knew how to sneak attack from close-range was sent here. He could not be more useless.”

Han Xiao turned around and glanced at the mansion in the center before he asked three key questions in his mind. “Who exactly are we protecting? How long will we defend here? Who are our enemies?”

Perhaps every newcomer asked the same questions; Chen Li answered quickly and smoothly. “Our boss did not say how long more we have to defend. In any case, if we cannot defend anymore, I will be the first to evacuate. I don’t care how much they pay me, I will not be cannon-fodder. I am not sure who the enemies are. Sometimes, we will get attacked in the day, other times, at night; we get attacked every few days. There will always be new enemies attacking us.

“And as for who we are protecting, heheheh…”

Chen Li suddenly laughed coldly before he continued.

“I heard that the target hides in the mansion, but they have never appeared before. The assignment forbids us from entering the mansion. It could very well be that the mansion is just an empty shell, and we are protecting no one. Humph! Whatever the motives of the employer, as long as he pays me, I’m fine.”

An empty mansion, protecting someone who had never appeared before, an ambiguous group call-up, enemies from unknown sources. All these factors, linked together, gave Han Xiao a strange feeling that could not be expressed in words. He felt a dense fog covering this whole situation.

“By the way, which level of assassin are you? Dark or Ghost?” Chen Li asked thoughtlessly.

“Mr. Black. Scorpion-level.”

Chen Li jolted his head around and looked rather surprised. “Scorpion? Why would you be here? Only Dark-level assassins and above would receive the call-up. You are not qualified, right?”

“I’m already here. My level is not important anymore.” Han Xiao had no interest in explaining himself to some mercenary. I can do whatever I want and need not explain myself to you. Basically, act like you own it.

“Although you are only scorpion-level, you are a sniper that we can make do with. As long as you can hit enemies with your sniper rifle, we are fine.”

Chen Li then frowned as he pointed to an area in the distance and said, “Can you see three fortresses there? You will go to the middle one. The Hornet Brothers will make arrangements for you.”

Han Xiao looked at the area. The three fortresses were at the intersection point of the south-east and north-east defense lines, and they were at the top point of the triangle defense structure. This position helped snipers maximize their field of vision and, therefore, sniping range. But the disadvantage was that the position was too conspicuous. When the enemy attacked, they would try to take down the sniper first. Fortunately, the walls of the fortresses were armed with numerous machine guns and rocket launchers; they were the most well-defended place.

Han Xiao did not object to the arrangement. Before he triggered any quest on his interface, he was quite indifferent to the whole thing.

Han Xiao walked to the middle fortress and climbed to the top floor. He then spotted two men who were carrying sniper rifles in their hands and snoozing by the wall. As they heard Han Xiao’s footsteps, they quickly open their eyes and looked over. One could tell that they were assassins from their ice-cold disposition.

One of them was tall while the other was short, and their faces looked similar. They seemed to be the Hornet Brothers as mentioned by Chen Li.

“Newcomer?” The tall one spoke nonchalantly. “Code Name, level, ability.”

Han Xiao’s brow furrowed. “Mr. Black, Scorpion, Sniper.”

“What is a Scorpion-level newbie doing here?” The tall guy frowned, and he became impatient. “Go to the left fortress and be the assistant sniper—you will be responsible for taking down all the small fries that escape our shots. Can you handle a simple task like this?”

“Sure.” Han Xiao nodded.

The short guy only gave him a glance before he went back to snooze. It seemed that he was prideful and not interested in talking to him.

It was only a dozen minutes in the manor, and Han Xiao had moved to three different locations. He had no choice but to walk toward the left fortress. This was the area he was in charge of, which meant that his job was to assist the Hornet Brothers.

There was already a person in the left fortress—an assassin with a large beard. He looked Han Xiao up and down, and after Han Xiao introduced himself, he cut to the chase. “Scorpion-level? You will take the left side while I take the right side.”

The left side had the most limited field of vision, and therefore, it was the easiest job. The bearded assassin did not trust his ability, which was normal. Han Xiao did not give it a second thought. He was fine with taking care of his own area.

_____________________

You triggered a chain quest, [Call-up (Protection)].

Quest Summary: “First, do not probe for the identity of the protection target; second, do not leave your post; third, do not let enemies infiltrate the manor; forth, try your best to become useful.”

Hint: This is a chain quest—please act according to instructions.

First Round: Beat off the first wave of enemies.

First Round Reward: 20,000 Experience

Other Causes for Quest Failure: 1. Unauthorized entry to the mansion; 2. Leaving the manor for more than two hours.

——————————————————————

Chain quest? Interesting, Han Xiao thought to himself.

A chain quest was the type of quest where the player had to complete the previous quest requirement before they would receive the next requirement. The difficulty and reward would get higher and higher with each round. Upon completing all the rounds in the chain, the player would receive an extra reward. Chain quests were usually a lot more tedious than normal quests.

I will see the reward for the next round of the quest before I decide to continue or not. If it isn’t great, I will just retreat from here, Han Xiao thought. He did not feel that he had to complete the quest no matter what; he would only continue if the rewards were substantially high.

After wandering around the manor for a few hours, he deciphered the manpower allocation in the place. The mercenaries were armed with heavy firearms and vehicles. There were also Superhumans around. Mechanics were in charge of repairing the equipment, providing ammunition, and rectify defense structures; assassins were the more elite force.

By casually chatting with the people there, Han Xiao learned that they had been stationed there for more than ten days. More capable personnel, such as the Hornet Bothers, Chen Li, Volcano, and Moonlight, had already made their reputation known in the place.

…

The sky slowly darkened. Leaves were gently swept by the night wind in the evening forest, making shushing sounds. Perennial water streams flowed in the river. The whole scene was rather peaceful.

An imminently-approaching engine sound broke the serenity in the forest.

Ohmmm!

Stationed at the fortress’s sniper position, Han Xiao looked through his scope. There were many headlights in the distant forest quickly approaching the manor. The mercenaries started to shout, prompting each other to quickly go back to their posts to get ready for the upcoming battle. The concentrated footsteps sounded like peas being fried.

Han Xiao stretched out his arm, and a crisp cocking sound was heard on his rifle. He was preparing himself, too.

“Here comes the first wave.”

Just by looking at the headlights, Han Xiao figured out the enemies’ military composition—all armored vehicles, and they were fast-approaching. Troops armed with heavy firepower were running close behind.

The next moment, the mercenaries in the manor began firing. Heavy machine guns were blasting and roaring continuously. Flashes of flames on muzzles became an attention-grabbing source of light among the darkness of the night. Han Xiao glanced over for a moment, and soon, his mind was put at ease. The enemy had limited numbers and average firepower, so they would not be able to penetrate the curtain of machine gun rounds made by the mercenaries.

Pong!

Sniper shots were heard from the central fortress; they came from the Hornet Brothers. The two shots were extremely accurate, hitting right on the targets.

Han Xiao looked over at his area and realized that it had a limited range of vision and tough angles. Most likely, only those enemies who slipped through the net would accidentally barge into this area. However, it just so happened that a small team of enemies had infiltrated this place. He raised his Red-Falcon before he aimed through the scope and fired. The shot pierced through multiple enemies’ necks at once, pumping out masses of blood fog.

Big beard guy was initially skeptical of Han Xiao’s ability, but after taking a few looks at him when he was not occupied, he was secretly shocked and knew that he no longer had to worry about this Mr. Black… because Han Xiao had made every single shot. Therefore, he stopped turning around to supervise Han Xiao and left that area entirely to him in comfort.

The battle only lasted for half an hour, and the enemies suffered great losses. They did not even manage to get within two hundred meters of the manor. Han Xiao managed to take down nine enemies in total.

_____________________

First round completed. You gained 20,000 Experience.

Change in Quest Requirement

Second Round Requirement: Defend the River Valley Manor.

Duration: 3 Days

Reward: 80,000 Experience

——————————————————————

The first wave was too simple, and the Experience rewarded seems to be very little. But the increase for the second round is not too bad.

Han Xiao rubbed his chin. The first round gives 20,000 Experience; the second round rewards 80,000 Experience. Based on this increment, the third round may yield me 320,000 Experience, and the fourth round would be more than a million Experience. Stop, I am just dreaming here.”

But honestly, the third round would at least reward him more than 150,000 Experience.

Han Xiao felt it was a waste of time to do the second round, which would last for three entire days, but he quickly changed his thought. He could stay there and earn some Experience by borrowing the facilities and workshops from the Mechanics there to repair the mercenaries’ equipment for free.

Han Xiao had always been a doer. Once he made up his mind, he immediately went to the logistics area to find the local mechanics. They were mostly pseudo-mechanics who had learned some repair skills for their secondary job. There were only two proper Superhuman Mechanics there.

“You want to help us repair equipment?” One repairman was startled. “You are a Mechanic?”

Han Xiao began proving himself directly through actions. He took a pistol on the worktable and disassembled in just a few movements before he assembled it rapidly, like he was performing magic. The whole process flowed smoothly, lasting less than two seconds. He was no longer the newbie in the Germinal Organization who took forty seconds to assemble a pistol. With the add-on effect of his various skills, his ability in making and assembling machinery had reached a level beyond that of an ordinary person.

The group of repairmen agreed to Han Xiao’s request without hesitation—they were even slightly eager to welcome him.

The repair jobs were dreary and tiring, and they did not even get extra pay for it. When someone unexpectedly wanted to take on this tough job, they were all too eager to throw all the work to this legitimate Mechanic that appeared out of nowhere.

…

Before dawn, Chen Li walked into the logistics area while carrying a spoilt machine gun. He was looking for a Mechanic that he was familiar with to repair his gun.

“Wang Xi, help me repair this machine gun.”

Wang Xi was a skinny middle-aged male. He wore a vest and was napping at the side. As he heard the voice, he opened his eyes and gave Chen Li a glance.

“Leave the gun there. I will repair it when I am free,” he said in a rather laid-back manner.

“Would you please hurry up with this? I may need to use it in the day.”

Wang Xi was getting impatient. “Alright. Alright. I will repair it for you later.”

Chen Li had no choice but to leave it to him. Although Wang Xi was ill-tempered, he was a legitimate Mechanic Superhuman with excellent skills. Only he could help him since he did not want the machine gun to malfunction again at a critical moment during the next battle.

After Chen Li left, Wang Xi shut his eyes again and returned to napping.

After five minutes, he heard footsteps approaching once more. He opened his eyes impatiently before he realized it was Chen Li again.

“What are you so anxious for? Once I have time, I will repair it for you, so stop bothering me.” Wang Xi was clearly irritated.

Surprisingly, Chen Li shook his head and said, “Return the machine gun to me. I will get someone else to repair it.”

Wang Xi frowned. Although he was annoyed by Chen Li’s repeated disturbances, he did not wish for the weapon to malfunction again. After all, he was also housed inside the manor.

“Other people’s skills are not good enough. Once the sun rises, I will repair it for you, okay?” he replied.

However, Chen Li was adamant in wanting to have his machine gun back. “It’s fine. The other guy’s skill is better than yours.”

Wang Xi was instantly infuriated by the comment. Everyone knew everyone else in a small logistics area like this. The other legitimate Mechanic was not even as good as him, let alone the bunch of repairmen.

Who are you trying to bluff?

But Chen Li was very insistent. Wang Xi had no choice but to return his gun. When he saw that Chen Li was walking to the other side of the logistics area, he deliberated for a moment before he decided to follow behind. He wanted to see who this Mechanic, who was supposedly better than him, was.

As he arrived at the scene, Wang Xi was shocked by what he saw—the bunch of low-class repairmen were crowding around a man in black, and they stared at him attentively with looks of amazement, jealousy, and curiosity.

Wang Xi was dumbfounded after he took a proper look at the man.

The man in black moved his hands at lightning speed, like a phantom, to operate all sorts of equipment rapidly. By doing so, he was repairing several weapons simultaneously in a natural and flowing style. It was so smooth that he did not even need to pause and think. Wang Xi had never seen any technique like this—he was definitely a higher-class Mechanic!

Originally, the repairmen had only the mindset of pushing their repair jobs to Han Xiao so that they could relax. But when Han Xiao started his repairing process, his technique, which was extremely speedy, quickly grabbed all their attention. They were intoxicated just by looking at it and wanted to note down his every single step. Many details of the technique were massively inspirational for them.

If they possessed an interface, the follow message would have appeared.

_____________________

You gained insights from observing Han Xiao (LV 34) repair machinery. Repair skill proficiency increased.

——————————————————————

The other Mechanic, who was of a similar standard as Wang Xi, was also observing Han Xiao with a look of obsession.

To Wang Xi, Han Xiao’s technique was flawless; to be exact, his standard was not high enough to perceive any flaws in Han Xiao’s technique. He felt somewhat dispirited and wanted to walk away, but he could not make himself do it. He could not resist the desire to stay there and continue watch Han Xiao’s repair work. He was deeply conflicted.

Han Xiao was engrossed in his repair work and did not care about what others around him thought. As a result, his Experience increased speedily. The effect of [Meticulous Repairs Level1] was considerably better than ordinary repair skills—they were not skills from the same class. The more basic weapons and machinery could be repaired quickly and easily. Han Xiao could even have been more efficient if not for the lack of better equipment.

For the next three days, other than taking some rests in between, Han Xiao was continuously involved in battles and repairs. Four waves of enemies attacked the manor in this period of time through variety of methods, including a speed boat attack, an armored vehicle attack, and a stealth raid. One group of enemies wore frog-suits and attempted to infiltrate the place by diving through the river on the west side. They were spotted and killed by the snipers.

The enemy’s attacks were gradually increasing in intensity. Han Xiao could sense, with his perspicacity, that the guards in the manor seemed to be getting too weak at defending against the enemy’s attacks. Numerous days of continuous high-intensity battle were taking a toll on their psyche, and the effect of their accumulated exhaustion was erupting. As a result, errors and casualties started appearing on the battlefield.

The mercenaries’ struggle did not have much of an impact on Han Xiao. He was feeling at ease with handling his small area by shooting down all the enemies that went into it. At the same time, he realized that there were more and more ‘fishes that escaped the net’ and entered his area. It seemed that the Hornet Brothers were slowly showing their incapability in handling attacks with such intensity.

Three days passed without any problems. When the first light appeared in the sky, a message was sent immediately to the Interface.

_____________________

Round 2 Complete. You received 80,000 Experience.

——————————————————————

Not bad, but the third round is probably going to get really tough.

Han Xiao was awakened from his nap.

He had received a grand total of 180,000Experience from completing the quest, working on machinery, and killing enemies. He was rather satisfied with the efficiency.

_____________________

Change in Quest Requirement.

Third Round: Defend against the next wave of attack

Reward: 150,000 Experience

——————————————————————

Han Xiao cursed; he had a bad feeling about this round of the quest.

The next wave of enemy was most likely very powerful, and there was a ninety percent chance that the mercenaries would not be able to defend against them.

Booooom!

It was a thundery shower. The dark sky was repeatedly torn apart by streaks and streaks of glaring lightning. Rain was pouring down in torrents.

The curtain of rain was limiting everyone’s field of vision, which in turn reduced their shooting accuracy. The mercenaries had to cover the weapons and equipment with waterproof covers against the violent storm as they were not waterproof, and they also sent their ammunition reserves to sheltered areas.

Heavy rain flooded the entire world, and its sound filled everyone’s ears. The fortresses were saturated with moisture. Han Xiao placed himself far away from the window to avoid getting soaked. He looked at the weather outside and frowned. Terrible weather like that is clearly generated by the system purposefully. I bet the next wave of heavy attack will come at this time, otherwise…

Han Xiao was only half way through his sentence before stopped that thought. How could he joke around like that and risk jinxing himself?

Ohmm!

A series of engine sounds were heard in the rain. The enemy was coming at them viciously this time. Hordes of armored vehicles were driving toward the manor in the storm. Countless rain droplets smashed onto the ice-cold metal armor.

“Fire!” The mercenaries in the manor yelled furiously, and the sounds of machine guns and grenade launchers followed.

The next moment, even greater firepower erupted from the enemy’s motorcade. More than a few small-scale missiles landed on the outer wall of the manor, which blew up the two machine guns and the gunner there.

Whilst Han Xiao was shooting his rifle, he heard Chen Li and the black dude yelling over the walkie-talkie.

“The enemy has rocket launchers; we must evade! Go and hit them hard with our machine guns and grenades!”

“Snipers hurry up and fire. Don’t make me prompt you! Hurry up and do something!”

“More than twenty speedboats just appeared on the river. Those stationed on the west side, quickly go and intercept them. Don’t let them get near the shore!”

“Shit. Helicopters!”

The sound of rotating wings was heard in the sky. Two Y5-Snake helicopter gunships were attacking from above. Flashing lightning in the dark sky highlighted the ferocious features of the helicopters. The gunner, wearing wind-shielding glasses, controlled a large-caliber six-barreled machine canon on the side of the helicopter and unleashed astonishing firepower.

The size of the canon rounds was almost like that of a small-scale missile. Their penetration capability and damage power were unmatched by the rounds of ordinary machine guns. They were even fired at a very high rate.

Da da da da da da.

The continuous canon rounds connected to form an orange line and swept the manor from above. The outer defensive walls of the manor were less than useless against enemies from the sky.

The mercenaries’ casualty number surged!

The sounds of swearing, yelling, crying, raining, guns firing, and engines roaring formed a symphony of battle—as grand as it was horrifying and as messy as it was fevered.

The helicopters were their biggest threat. Some machine gunners quickly aimed their guns at them.

However, by simply flying higher, Y5-Snake helicopters easily got out of the range of the machine guns. Those stray rounds that managed to touch the helicopters could not penetrate their armored exterior.

“Snipers! Kill the pilots!” Chen Li was yelling in exasperation.

“We will handle the helicopters. Other snipers, go and stop the ground troops from coming in!” The Hornet Brothers gave an order in the communication net from the central fortress. Thereafter, they started shooting at the helicopters.

Even with the dense curtains of rain, Han Xiao could see the sparks generated when the sniper rounds landed on the exterior armor of the helicopters. The pilot’s window was made high-grade bullet-proof glasses. It would require at least seven to eight rounds to penetrate.

Han Xiao suddenly felt something was wrong. He swiftly shouldered his gun and moved away from the sniping window.

“How dare you leave your post without authorization…” Big beard guy was infuriated by what he saw. However, he was only half way through his words when the sound of a violent explosion stopped him. The fortress wall exploded violently, and big beard guy was instantly struck flying by the shockwave and landed on the other wall. His arms were completely broken, and he cried in pain.

The two Y5-Snake helicopters were equipped with four airstrike missiles, which were used to directly blow up the three fortresses. The central fortress was hit the heaviest—it exploded into complete ruins, and as a result, the Hornet Brothers were killed instantly. Their flesh, together with dust and shattered bricks, was tossed out of the place by the shockwave.

The three fortresses had been blown up!

Without the threat of snipers, the helicopters became much more aggressive, like a horny wild dog. The massive firepower had the mercenaries hiding under cover, and they dared not even expose their heads.

Although Han Xiao successfully dodged the explosion, he was hit by the shockwave. He did not suffer much damage. However, the roof over his head was completely blown up, and the heavy rain poured directly into his area. As a result, he was directly exposed in the enemies’ field of vision. He was in a terrible situation.

The enemy had land, air, and sea superiority. The manor was being attacked in three different ways!

He turned around and glanced at the horrifying scene of the battle.

The mercenaries cannot hold on anymore.

His eyes were looking worried.

…

“The people outside cannot withstand the attack anymore.”

Two men were looking out the window at the battle from the living room of the mansion in the center of River Valley Manor. One of them had both of his hands pressing on the windowsill; he was a bald old man. He wore black-frame glasses, and his eyebrows and beard were complete white.

The other person stood behind the old man at an angle with folded arms. He appeared to be a middle age man. His short jet-black hair was slicked-back, and there was only a slight graying on the hair near his temples. The only unordinary thing about him was probably his disposition. He wore a gentle smile on his face, which made him look rather friendly.

The man with the gentle disposition chuckled. “Seems like it’s time for me to act.”

The bald old man nodded. “We have defended for so long. Xena should have eradicated all the traitors in the organization. My life depends on you now, my old friend.”

The gentle man nodded and prepared to walk out. Suddenly, he stopped his footsteps and noticed a sudden change in the battle situation.

“Seems like there is an interesting guy who just appeared. They don’t need me anymore.”

“Hmm?” The bald old man was startled and looked out the window.

…

Hiding inside the defense structure, Chen Li shouted loudly into his walkie talkie, “Is there any sniper who is still alive? Without taking down the two helicopters, we are all going to die here!”

Suddenly, a crimson bullet penetrated through the rain curtain and shot the ammunition belt on one of the helicopters’ machine canons with extreme accuracy. The crimson round then cracked, and a flame erupted from within it in the heavy downpour.

High-explosive round!

Homm!

The orange high-explosive gas filled every single gap it touched, and it travelled through the split between the armored exterior and ignited the ammunition belt. The helicopter, which had been acting all triumphant a moment ago, exploded in that instant as all the canon rounds exploded at once. The high-explosive round was not powerful by itself, but it ignited the fatal large-caliber canon rounds, which were as powerful as land mines. Those in the helicopter were all killed. The flying ball-bearings pierced through the pilot’s neck, and the blood splashed onto the side window.

The helicopter span out of control before it dropped from the sky onto the ground. Both parties could feel the violent vibration on the ground.

In the half ruins of the left fortress, Han Xiao, who fired that shot, cocked his sniper rifle to unload the cartridge that was still smoking hot. His eyes were serious and calm. In that critical juncture, he had pumped a large amount of Experience into [Sniping] such that it rose to Level9! This was the reason he had managed to shoot a round with such accuracy. He had hit the canon rounds on the helicopter’s ammunition belt from an extremely obscure angle!

However, this shot had also caused several bad consequences. The other Y5-Snake helicopter aimed all its firepower at the left fortress. In addition, the enemy ground troops knew that the helicopters were their trump card; therefore, they all cooperated and fired at the fortress together. A terrifying number of rounds smashed the rain curtain and exploded on the left fortress!

Big beard guy’s face turned ghostly pale as he thought he was going to be blown up in pieces. How could he run faster than the canon rounds with his two short legs? Right in his moment of desperation, he suddenly felt a large hand picking him up by the scruff of his neck and a great force that dragged him along to run away at lightning speed. The next instant, the entire left fortress blew up into ruins.

If it had been a second earlier, big beard guy would have been blown to smithereens.

After escaping from danger, big beard guy felt his collar being released. His butt landed right on the ground. He quickly turned around and looked at the person who saved him. The sight of Han Xiao, who was dressed in black, standing in the heavy rain appeared in his eyes.

Big beard guy did not bother with thanking Han Xiao for saving his life before he asked in shock, “How did you run so fast‽”

“Because I am as free as the wind.”

Big beard guy was completely dumbfounded. What kind of crap are you talking about‽

As soon as Han Xiao finished quipping, his both feet landed on the ground. His Electromagnetic Hover-boots then lit up with a dark blue glow, and electromagnetic force blasted out of them, causing Han Xiao to slide out swiftly as he was skating on ice. He was moving faster than a car, and so, with two to three slides, he reached the top of the raft of the outside wall. Much to the mercenaries’ astonishment, Han Xiao was dashing left and right rapidly like dark-colored lightning on the wall raft—no enemy could accurately lock onto him. He dodged all enemy fire.

“See my majestic skill!”

Han Xiao started sniping whilst he was moving around at high-speed. The field of vision for sniping was a few times greater there than that in the left fortress. His Snipe skill, which had just reached Level9, could control the entire battlefield. The movement provided by the hover boots was smooth and steady, so Han Xiao did not spend much of his effort controlling the boots. The difficulty in controlling the boots was only as high as those commercial electronic skating shoes; therefore, the high-speed movement did not affect the accuracy of Han Xiao’s shots significantly.

Rounds after rounds were fired at the enemies. High-explosive, Hayme, Flash, and Penetration rounds took turns to be fired from the sniper rifle. The most useful bullet was always used at the most appropriate time and place. For instance, when a vehicle was attempting to fire a grenade at one of the manor’s machine guns, a Flash bullet appeared at the most opportune time and made the enemy fire at the wrong angle.

_____________________

You are currently sniping while on the move.

You learned a [Moving Snipe] technique (1/100).

——————————————————————

Triggered the learning of a new skill? Han Xiao’s eyes brightened—this skill could only be triggered when the Snipe skill was above Level8. He fired a few more shots and realized, when he successfully shot a target, he gained a progress point. He immediately became more enthusiastic in sniping the enemies.

Han Xiao evaded the majority of attacks from the enemies with the help of the hover boots. However, the enemies recognized his area-control ability as a sniper. They would have much difficulty taking the next step without bringing him down.

Thus, Han Xiao soon felt their ‘intense enthusiasm’, and he once again received concentrated fire from the enemies. The pressure on him increased sharply, and he was frequently shot by stray rounds. He had no choice but to shield his body with his magnetic armor.

The last Y-5 Snake helicopter swayed left and right to prevent Han Xiao from sniping its vital parts. The machine canon fired consistently, causing much trouble for Han Xiao. Even with the magnetic armor, it was painful for him to take a few canon rounds.

To make matters worse, the canon rounds had a push-back effect, which already made Han Xiao miss quite a few of his shots.

The armor on his chest received three more large-caliber canon rounds. Han Xiao felt his chest tightening; he was pushed a few meters back and almost fell off the wall raft. However, the damage was not significant to him—his current HP count was more than 2000, and with the help of the magnetic retractable armor, he could suffer through much greater damage.

At this moment, the mercenaries in the manor started fighting back and actively complement Han Xiao’s battle tactics.

“Oi, sniper, stop daydreaming. Continue fighting like before; we will coordinate with your attacks!” Chen Li shouted in the communication device.

Someone once said that if one reviewed one’s previous life, one would realize that one’s wrongdoings in the past would come back to haunt one.

If those words were true, Han Xiao felt that he was bound to become a haunted house owner, surrounded by hateful specters, since every enemy that he killed stared hard at him with vengeful, angry eyes.

At the most critical juncture, Han Xiao used his amazing sniping skills to stabilize the battle situation. He gave the mercenaries time to regroup, and the rest of the surviving snipers also made use of the opportunity to head to new hideouts.

The mercenaries made Han Xiao the main fighter, and all of them provided support for him. The enemy’s plan to suppress Han Xiao with heavy fire failed badly. The troops working with Han Xiao managed to relieve his stress and pressure. In turn, this brought out the best of his strength and made his fighting easier.

——————————————————————

You are currently sniping while on the move.

You learned a [Moving Snipe] technique. (100/100)

You successfully grasped [Moving Snipe]!

Moving Snipe Level1 (0/4,500): Reduction of the loss of accuracy from shooting in motion, +2% explosive firing accuracy, +1% fire rate when equipped with sniper rifles.

——————————————————————

Han Xiao realized that [Moving Snipe] did not require large sums of Experience points. He channeled his additional Experience points into the skill and raised the skill to Level4. He became more comfortable with operating a sniper rifle and could use the weapon to the best of its ability.

After the enemy’s initial strong push, the situation was back in the defenders’ favor. The incoming enemy troops were fatigued. They wanted to use explosives to blow a hole in the exterior walls of the garden and follow-up by driving their vehicles into the compound. However, the tough steel plates and concrete with the urgent repairs going on made the exterior impossible to blow up.

The enemies then changed their plans and wanted to wipe out the guards of the base directly, but instead, they were stopped by the powerful Han Xiao, who suddenly emerged before their eyes. The enemies realized their assault was going down hill. They started their retreat and left piles of dead bodies.

The Y-5 Snake helicopter turned back and flew away from the site. The helicopter did not have the audacity to fly close to the ground. The pilots were afraid that Han Xiao could fire at its fuel-tank and ammunition storage, which would limit the helicopter’s fighting ability, making it less of a threat.

The battle is finally over. Han Xiao heaved a sigh of relief. His HP had dropped by over 600 points. The endurance level of the magnetically-controlled retractable armor was reduced by a great deal, but he had brought some mechanical parts with him, so he could conduct repairs on the damaged item.

The mercenaries by his side were all exhausted. They collapsed to the ground in fatigue. Chen Li walked toward them. He was curious about Han Xiao’s abilities. He wanted to find out Han Xiao’s full fighting capability and asked, “Mr. Black, are you alright?”

Han Xiao waved his hand to indicate that he was doing fine at the current moment.

Although Chen Li appeared relieved, he was in fact slightly shocked. He did not expect the Scorpion-level assassin to be more reliable than the Hornet brothers.

Shooting the enemies under such powerful concentrated enemy fire was not a feat that was attainable by a Scorpion-level individual.

Chen Li suspected that Mr. Black was a new member of the Dark Web, which would explain his rather low level. Based on his performance in the previous battle, as long as he survived, he could easily attain ‘Ghost’ level.

——————————————————————

Third round completed. You gained 150,000 Experience.

Change in Quest Requirement

Fourth Round Requirement: Defend against five waves of attacks.

Reward: 40,000 Experience per wave (Accumulated Experience will be kept if the mission fails.)

Special Reward: 100,000 Experience

——————————————————————

Han Xiao felt helpless. Why is it another defense mission? Can there be more variety?

Three forts have been destroyed, and many mercenary troops have also perished. Is the whole mission going to be an endless defense against enemy attacks‽

The only consolation is probably the experience and the special reward. Perhaps the special reward is the reason behind all the hidden requirements for the mission. What special tactics are they going to run this time round?

Han Xiao made his way to the logistics zone to start the repairs of the damaged equipment and replenish the exhausted ammunition. On his way there, he was met with looks of respect given by the mercenary troops. Their looks seemed like they had given the ‘green light’ to let Han Xiao be the leader of all the snipers in the force instead of the Hornet brothers.

Those troops with injuries spent the night having themselves treated while the troops who were not injured had a peaceful night of sleep.

The rain stopped at twilight. The ground was muddy, mixed with blood and bullet shells. A strange pungent smell was also emitted by the ground.

Han Xiao was prepared to close his eyes to take a short nap when he heard a commotion emerging out of the communication device.

“The targets have appeared!”

Han Xiao opened his eyes and looked toward the mansion.

The bald old man and a fine-looking gentleman appeared behind the fences of the mansion. All the mercenary troops were alarmed, and they stared curiously at the targets that they were supposed to protect.

When all the mercenary troops and assassins arrived before him, the bald open man started speaking. “Thank you for the protection you guys have offered for the past few days. I will now call out the names of some of the guys whom I want to speak with.”

The bald old man chanted out a list of names. The names belonged to the commanders of the mercenary troops and assassins with outstanding performances in the mission. Mr. Black, which was Han Xiao’s code name, was also mentioned.

“… please enter the mansion in ten minutes. I have something to discuss with you guys.”

——————————————————————

The condition for the mission to fail has changed.

——————————————————————

The condition of no entrance into the mansion, which would directly lead to mission failure, was no longer there.

The appearance of the two mysterious characters created an intense discussion between the curious and puzzled troops.

Waves of unease could be felt in Han Xiao’s heart instead. He managed to recognize one of the guys.

It is him, Bennett Anderson!

No flashy adjectives were required to describe Bennett. In fact, one simple sentence was enough.

Bennett was the main character of Planet Aquamarine!

Amazing, right? There was something even more amazing.

Bennett was another main character on Planet Aquamarine’s main storyline that could lead the players to access missions only available on the main storyline. With that said, it meant that Bennett was an important character that many players wanted to curry-favor with.

Furthermore, Bennett… was a hidden General Skills trainer.

Han Xiao’s eyes glittered. In less than ten minutes, he made a phone call to the Rothschild family.

“Alphonsus, I want to exchange for some items…”

“Er? Aren’t you on the deployment mission? What do you need?”

“The Silver Defender Leaders’ Saber and the Lock HOC Sniper Rifle.”

“… Alright, I did not imagine that you would have such a hobby. I’ll get someone to help you find the items. They will be sent to you in two days.”

_____________________

You requested to exchange for the [Silver Defender Leader’s Saber] from the Rothschild Family.

Minus 300 affection points. Current relationship status – Friendly.

_____________________

You requested to exchange for the [Lock HOC Sniper Rifle] from the Rothschild Family.

Minus 300 affection points. Current relationship status – Friendly.

——————————————————————

Han Xiao nodded and hung up on the phone. All the troops were looking at the selected individuals as they entered the mansion.

The interior of the mansion followed a minimalistic classical style. Other than a chandelier hanging from the ceiling, there were no signs of extravagance in the other parts of the room. The bald old man sat on his sofa, and the friendly gentleman was standing behind him.

“Sit anywhere you want.”

The selected individuals took their seats on the sofas and chairs in the different corners of the room. Han Xiao remained standing. He leaned against the glass cabinet that stored all the bottles of wine. He stared intently at the friendly gentleman. That was indeed Bennett. He might have looked like a middle-aged man, but he was in fact over sixty years old. He was a powerful superhuman; therefore, he looked younger since he aged at a slower pace.

The bald elderly man pushed up his spectacles and said in a deliberate manner, “Let me introduce myself; I am Wang Yuan, and I will require the protection of you guys for an extended period of time. Today, I called you guys here so that I could meet you all. Also, the mansion will be open for you guys to visit. If you guys want to, you all can even rest in the mansion. ”

“Wang Yuan… Never heard of the name before.” Everyone looked at one another in confusion. They were in fact puzzled by the fact that the two mysterious guys decided to seek refuge in River Valley Manor as Seagull City seemed like a much better place to do so. Also, who were the enemies that relentlessly hunted for them?

They realized that Wang Yuan had no intention the queries they had in their hearts, therefore they could not be bothered to ask these questions. Also, asking sensitive questions was not a good practice of their profession.

“You guys are the central force defending River Valley Manor, and once the mission is done,” Wang Yuan said, “I will hand out additional rewards to you guys in private.”

The eyes of many mercenary commanders lit up. The stipulated reward from the mission was supposed to be shared with all the fellow troops. However, an undeclared reward privately handed out to the commander need not be shared with their men. The commander could use the reward as they wished.

The meeting was a short one. The commanders moved back to take care of their fellow troops. Some ammunition supplies were also transferred into the mansion for storage. The mansion was very big with many empty rooms that were available for the troops to rest inside.

The hustle and bustle moved into the mansion, and soon, people began moving in and out of the mansion endlessly. Wang Yuan and Bennett stayed for a while before they made their moves.

Han Xiao moved quickly up to the two of them.

“Mr. Black, what’s the matter?” Wang Yuan gave a slight grin. He remembered the stunning performance by the sniper last night. It was still fresh in his mind.

Han Xiao looked at Bennett and said, “I want to speak privately with him.”

Wang Yuan and Bennett both looked shocked. They looked at each other for a moment. Wang Yuan smiled and made his way to another side of the room so as to give Han Xiao and Bennett their personal space.

“Why do you want to speak to me?” Bennett was puzzled. “Have we met before?”

Han Xiao took a deep breath and spoke softly at a volume that only both of them could hear. “Bennett Anderson. You are the legendary guy who was active back in the times of the old warring period. You previously trained in the Misihorot Training Camp, which was directly under the Ordina Intelligence Agency. You were one of their best agents and a cold-blooded killing machine. Halfway through the warring period, you became the captain of the elite team of Ordina agents that went by the code name [Blue Devil]. You carried out hundreds of infiltration, sabotage, assassination, and covert operations. You left Ordina and became a traitor eventually. You head is now worth a bounty of 15,000,000!

“After you defected, you disappeared for two years. Legend says that you were undergoing some tough training in the harsh terrain of the northern continent. You were supposedly hunting beasts in the Caroso mountain range. When you appeared once again, you became the strongest man on this planet. You entered the war again, but you did not help any of the parties involved in the war. Instead, you assisted the refugees in their escapes, and through that, you built a strong organization that was the predecessor of the existing Dark Web Organization.

“You appeared countless times in the war-ravaged regions, and as more people were saved by you, you gradually became known as the hero by the people of your time. Also, you left your mark by having an amazing and almost unbelievable battle record. As the war ended, you left the world stage. You covered you tracks and disappeared. From then on, you never appeared in the eyes of the public.”

All these words were the official description of Bennett that was given in the game. Han Xiao could no longer remember the nitty-gritty details and could only give a rough overview.

There were a couple of main characters on every planet. They were like the shooting stars in the sky, leaving bright trails for the people of their time and impressionable marks on the history of the planets.

Bennett was the ‘main character’ of Planet Aquamarine. Even Hila could not be compared to Bennett at an equal standing. The rise of the goddess of death belonged to later versions.

After listening to the words of Han Xiao, Bennett was astonished. Han Xiao was the first out of all his guards to actually point out his true identity.

Even after decades, someone could still recognize him. Bennett had looked really cold, like a block of ice, in the past, and he looked completely different now. He really did change a lot, so how was it possible for his true identity to be recognized?

The most probable speculation appeared in Bennett’s heart. He asked hesitantly, “So, are you my fan?”

Admire you‽ My ass!

Although Han Xiao wanted to say that, he reckoned that it would be no fun offending Bennett. He still wished to extract some benefits out of Bennett.

Be serious, be serious.

Han Xian made a dry cough. “I heard of your stories, and I have always wanted to meet you.”

Bennett gave a friendly smile and waved his hands. “Don’t mention the things in the past. What did you want to speak to me about? It can’t be for a signature, right?”

Han Xiao’s eyes twitched. Alright, enough showing off…

After regulating his breath, Han Xiao gave a stern expression and said, “I heard you are the strongest human on this planet…”

Bennett’s eyes flashed. He was too familiar with such an introduction. Perhaps it was another person that wanted to challenge him to a fight.

The war created power beings that emerged from the flames and bloodshed of the battles. Bennett took pride in his amazing battle record. Over the years, many strong individuals had wanted to challenge him. Bennett was too tired of the meaningless fights and his continuous victories from the easy battles. He appeared this time merely to protect his old friend, Wang Yuan. He never planned to reveal his true identity to his enemies—the traitors of the organization—else his enemies would not even dare lay their fingers on him. Precisely because of the fact that the traitors of the organization felt that the defense around Wang Yuan was weak, it allowed the baiting operation to proceed.

Bennett shook his head. If Han Xiao really wanted to fight him, he would definitely not agree to it since Han Xiao’s current strength was worthless in his eyes.

Yet contrary to his expectations, Han Xiao said, “I want to learn some combat techniques from you.”

“Interesting, you are the first person who has wanted to learn from me.” Bennett contemplated for a moment before shaking his head. “You are a sniper. It’s impossible for you to learn my combat tactics.”

As expected, Bennett used the same tactic again! It was Bennett’s standard line when he wanted to reject someone. As long as the pre-requisites were not met, the same line was thrown out to be used in rejections. It was always the same line.

“You are a mechanic, its impossible for you to learn my techniques.”

“You are a pugilist, it’s impossible for you to learn…”

“You are a superhuman, it’s impossible for you to learn…”

By merely changing the noun of the sentence, large numbers of players were rejected. Han Xiao was not going to fall for this same trick. Bennett was a hidden General Skills trainer, and gifts were required for him to actually teach the skills to a player. Previously, there were players that came with gifts with the intention of just currying-favor with Bennett. They did not expect themselves to actually pick up a skill or two from just handing gifts to Bennett.

Different gifts linked to different skills.

The two items that Han Xiao had requested from the Rothschild family were meant to be presented to Bennett as gifts.

Han Xiao chatted with Bennett to ensure that Bennett actually recognized him.

Bennett caught up to Wang Yuan, who was waiting for him not far ahead. Wang Yuan asked curiously, “What did he want from you?”

“He recognizes me and wants to learn some combat techniques from me.”

“What a strange dude.” Wang Yuan stroked his beard and said, “He has got some skill. He is a new assassin that just joined the organization’s Blood Pact Society. He has a mysterious background and is codenamed ‘Mr. Black’. He is definitely a character we should pull to our side. After this mission, I will ask Xena to increase his level to Dark.”

…

The mercenary troops were tidying up the rooms of the mansion. Chen Li went to look for Han Xiao and handed him a chain of room keys.

Han Xiao did not accept the keys immediately. He stared at Chen Li weirdly and stuttered, “Don’t tell me… these are the keys to your room‽”

“… I don’t have such an inclination,” Chen Li said as the veins on his forehead bulged.

“You sound like I like such kind of things.”

Chen Li coughed drily and explained, “These are the keys to the best rooms of the mansion, and I reserved one for you.”

It was only then that Han Xiao came to his sense. He received the keys and understood what was going on. “Who else are those singles rooms meant for?”

“They are allocated to Volcano, Moonlight, Hunter, and a few other commanders of the various mercenary groups.”

The names that Han Xiao mentioned were all the stronger fighters and leaders of the guards around the mansion.

Being allocated a single room was a privilege of the stronger individuals. The remaining ordinary troops and assassins could only squeeze into bigger rooms or sleep in the main hall.

In the fight the previous night, Han Xiao had replaced the Hornet brothers, who were killed in action. He was the core of all the snipers and was the backbone of the defense. His outstanding performance gained the respect of the fellow mercenary troops, which was also why Chen Li went over to pass him the keys. As long as one had the power and capability, one would be bestowed with special privileges.

Han Xiao gladly accepted Chen Li’s offer. Han Xiao’s room was on the second floor, and it had a balcony.

When he reached the corridor on the second level, Han Xiao saw the rest of the powerful figures. They looked at one another and nodded as a form of friendly gesture. Hunt left a deep impression in Han Xiao’s eyes. Hunter was a firearms expert from the Mechanic lineage. His weapons were a pair of very powerful hand-held cannons. It was said that the hand-held cannons did not have any recoil when fired.

Since Bennett is here and the mission has to be carried out, as long as I can get close to Bennett and in turn come into contact with the main server at the hideout, I will be able to gain the favor of the Dark Web Organization and access its huge network of intelligence. The gains from the move will be so great.

Being on good terms with the main character of the planet could bring so many benefits.

Han Xiao used his fingers to scratch the stubble on his chin. His eyes lit up like a shrewd thief.

…

Over the next two days, the enemies carried out raids each night, as if they were a bunch of crazy monsters that could not have enough of night attacks. They extended their devilish clutches toward the manor.

Han Xiao took over the role of the Hornet brothers and was in charge of holding the ground. He used his strong sniping abilities to control the situation. While his great accuracy was one thing, what was more impressive was his astute acumen in battles.

Having previously fought in the inter-planetary wars of the galaxy, where the scale and density of the firepower was just too overwhelming, this battle was like a leisurely stroll. The two were not on the same level, and their differences were just too great.

In the madness and mess of inter-planetary wars, a minor mistake could lead to planes crashing and deaths. Every small mistake was infinitely escalated. Therefore, Han Xiao developed his acumen and instinct to search for opportunities through the slim cracks of the intense situations. That was the mark of a true master. Although Han Xiao was not humble at all, rather shameless even, he was no doubt a true master.

It was a piece of cake for him to handle battles of such a small scale that adopted low-tech equipment. His shots could always hit the targets at the right spots.

With the help of Han Xiao, there were great reductions in the casualties faced by the mercenary troops. It was shockingly amazing. Previously, the Hornet brothers had been more focused on killing the enemies, and they could hardly help the rest in the firefights. However, Mr. Black employed an all-around sniping style, which enabled him to execute the enemies and also take time to carry out defensive actions. It was like a one-man show that handled that entire southeastern and northeastern battlefronts.

Reliable and stable were the perceptions that the troops had about Han Xiao. Han Xiao’s fire support allowed them to have easier fights.

A sniper who could control the entire situation of the battle was of indescribable threat. It was natural for the enemies to concentrate their firepower on Han Xiao. However, Han Xiao managed to neutralize the threat with the mobility provided by his hover-boots. Also, the low-level health strengthening module provided him with the ability to withstand attacks made by the enemy. He had almost double the HP that normal mechanics at his level would have.

Even super-humans and pugilists that exceeded LV 40 might not have more HP than him. Therefore, it was not necessary for Han Xiao to fear the enemy’s attacks like the other snipers. It was also the first time that the troops saw a sniper that dared face the direct fire of the machine guns of the enemies and take on the enemy up-front. That changed the troops’ initial perception that a sniper only dealt out attacks silently, away from the enemies’ attention.

In those two days, Han Xiao became more respected in the eyes of the troops.

Deaths were bound to happen in a battle, and new troops and assassins arrived to replace those that were killed in action. That was to ensure that new blood was being injected and a robust fighting force was constantly present.

Golden Fox was one of the ‘new blood’. She was a Dark-level assassin. Once she entered the manor, there was someone to receive her.

Golden Fox was a tall, pretty lady. She looked good and carried a sniper rifle on her back. She asked in a serious tone, “How is the situation?”

The mercenary leading the way took a glance at the perky ass of the Golden Fox. From the look in his eyes, one could tell he was aroused.

The Golden Fox had long gotten used to the perverted stares of men, so she simply ignored that mercenary’s action.

“The situation is looking good. Although the enemies are attacking more frequently, our defenses are very strong and tight. Also, all the ammunition and logistical supplies are replenished daily. Plus, there are new troops joining the force. The southeastern and northeastern sectors are managed by Mr. Black, so nothing will go wrong.”

The trooper laughed.

“Mr. Black?” The Golden Fox was very sure that she had not heard of such a codename. She asked curiously, “Who is Mr. Black?”

“Mr. Black is a Scorpion-level assassin. His sniping skills are unbelievably amazing.”

“Only Scorpion-level?” Golden Fox felt uneasy. She locked her brows. She did not trust the ability of Han Xiao and said in a confused tone, “Isn’t it too brash and unwise to let a Scorpion-level assassin to be in charge of the battle?”

After she finished that sentence, Golden Fox realized that the mercenary leading the way was no longer friendly or attracted toward her. His eyes turned cold. He pointed in the direction ahead and asked Golden Fox to go to the place by herself. The man then turned around and walked away.

Golden Fox was astonished. She had only questioned the ability of Mr. Black; was it necessary for the trooper to make such a big reaction? Was Mr. Black really that reputable?

That night, when the enemies approached, Golden Fox finally saw Mr. Black’s performance and his ability to control the situation of the battle. She was shocked. It was as if Mr. Black possessed the legendary Eagle eye and could see every corner of the battlefield. There were almost no missed shots. Even if some of the shots did not injure or kill the enemy, they played other vital roles such as to limit the enemies or to support the allies.

Golden Fox realized that she had nothing to do on the battlefield. All the work was already settled by Mr. Black. The work of Mr. Black impressed the Golden Fox more than the total number of enemies he killed. As sniper, the Golden Fox realized how much work Mr. Black was actually doing.

Mr. Black took all the work away from the other snipers. One Mr. Black could replace a team of snipers.

She finally understood why the mercenary troops let a Scorpion-level assassin take charge of battlefield.

That is the surely the strongest sniper I have seen!

…

——————————————————————

You defeated a wave of attackers. (3/5)

——————————————————————

After seeing the enemies retreat, Han Xiao heaved a sigh of relief.

It is the third wave of enemies, and the attacks are becoming stronger. However, there are also more guards in the manor. With me around, as long as there are no strong individuals in the subsequent attacks, the mission is likely to be completed. However, what is the requirement to obtain the hidden reward?

Han Xiao had zero clues about the hidden reward.

The next morning, Chen Li called out to Han Xiao through the communication device.

“Mr. Black, someone from the Rothschild family is looking for you.”

Upon hearing that, Han Xiao immediately shot up from his bed and raced to the gates of the mansion. He received the items from the delivery man… or rather, the courier from the Rothschild family. The two items were the Silver Defender Leader’s Saber and the Lock HOC Sniper Rifle.

The two items dated back to a few decades ago. They were no longer in production, and the countries that manufactured the items no longer existed. The two items were considered antiques. Bennett was an avid collector of antique weapons, and these items were the necessary pre-requisites to learn the new skills.

There was a total of more than ten items that could activate the learning of new skills. The types of gifts were different; therefore, they led to different skills. However, the total quantity of these items was limited, and it meant that the number of players that could learn skills from Bennett was also limited. The hidden instructors usually transferred skills to their disciples in such a manner.

For instance, there were only about a hundred of such sabers left, and with the saber, one could master a very powerful attacking ability known as [Flaming Will]. In the late stage of Version 1.0, the price of the saber was inflated to millions of dollars, and Han Xiao was able to obtain it by sacrificing some of his relationship points with the Rothschild family—it was a pretty good deal.

Han Xiao longed to master the ability of [Flaming Will], something he had failed to do in his past life.

“When shall we move?”

“Anytime, as long as you’re ready,” Tang Shu replied.

Han Xiao nodded in agreement.

In his last life, a large guild had discovered this prize-pool quest. For the sake of maximizing profits, the guild announced news about the quest onto the forum, attracting tons of gamers. This caused the prize pool to increase to huge figures, and eventually, they managed to complete the quest, receiving the huge amount of rewards.

Now, Han Xiao was the first person to do the quest, and although he would not accumulate the prize pool to such an extent, the initial base prize was his to begin with. The main difficulty of this quest was that anyone possessing an antique would drop it the moment they were killed, making the quest a competition between the players. Thus, the quest was more difficult than usual. However, in Han Xiao’s case, simply stealing the antiques from the municipal museum was a much easier task.

Han Xiao had no other competitors, so he decided to act immediately.

Tang Shu glimpsed and turned, rubbing his hands.

“How shall we split the reward?” he asked, smiling humbly in the process.

Han Xiao waved his hands. “I don’t need that reward of yours. Let’s act quickly—I have limited time to work with.”

Upon hearing that Han Xiao did not need the monetary reward, Tang Shu immediately heaved a sigh of relief.

Hang on, if he isn’t after the money, why is this uninvited guest participating in the heist?

Li Xin’s heart began beating loudly, and scenes of various dominant CEOs came into her mind. Her two hands were place over her heart, and she stared at Han Xiao in adoration. “Could it be because of me that you…”

“You are thinking too much.”

…

Han Xiao and Tang Shu spent over an hour traveling to the other end of the city to get to the Municipal Museum.

It was already late into the night, so the gates of the Municipal Museum had closed, and the surrounding streets were deserted. However, CCTV was surveilling the area around the clock.

The two of them hid in the alley across the street opposite the Municipal Museum. Tang Shu held onto the map and explained the plan.

“The Municipal Museum has three floors in total. The first and second floors are exhibition halls, and the third floor is the staff area. Here are the blueprints. Our goal is on the north exhibition area of the second floor. I have already surveyed the area; the showcase is equipped with laser alarms and a proximity detector. If we are one meter within the vicinity, we will trigger the alarm. There are resident guards around the museum, and we cannot alarm them. My plan is to sneak in from the window of the third floor, and then… Hey hey! where are you going?”

Tang Shu had yet to complete his sentence when Han Xiao walked toward the door of the Municipal Museum with wide strides. Tang Shu could not call him back in time as Han Xiao raised his foot and kicked the front door open and flying. The sound of the slamming doors travelled through the entire street.

Tang Shu was dumbfounded.

What on Earth! What about the plan of sneaking in‽

Han Xiao turned toward Tang Shu and shouted, “Why are you still daydreaming? Get in now.”

“What on Earth are you doing‽” Tang Shu was stunned.

“That plan of yours is too complicated. It’s just a museum; at the most, only a few cops will appear. Don’t waste time playing Assassin’s Creed; playing Berserk is the best option.”

Tang Shu had already noticed residents popping their heads out of their windows, curious about the source of the boom, and someone was bound to call the cops within three minutes. Tang Shu, with a sullen look, had no other choice but to follow behind Han Xiao. He could only hold onto the that hope that Han Xiao was actual reliable, despite how unlikely that would be based on what had just happened.

The two of them ran to their target on the second floor. Han Xiao broke the showcase without much hesitation and took the ten antiques. Such extreme behavior immediately triggered the alarms, and the museum’s guards, awoken from their sleep, rushed over.

“Thief!”

“Catch them quickly!”

Han Xiao ran with the antiques in his arms, while Tang Shu followed behind hurriedly.

They were soon back at the entrance of the Museum, only to see four cops already blocking the way out.

Han Xiao, with the antiques in his arms, was unable to raise a fist, so he turned to Tang Shu. “It’s your time to shine.”

Tang Shu pointed at himself with a look of disbelief. “Do I look like someone who can fight to you? You chose this plan, so shouldn’t you be the one to fix the situation?”

While they were still conversing, the guards rushed over.

“Stop hesitating.” Han Xiao kicked Tang Shu’s butt, and he flew toward guards. “There, I gave you a boost!”

The guards swung their batons. Tang Shu was terrified, and he anxiously took his crowbar out to defend himself and fight off the guards. However, his head was beaten into a bad shape in one round of fighting. He could not take the pain and rushed back to Han Xiao, crying, “It’s impossible. I’m just too weak.”

“Tsk, let me teach you a mysterious spell that would double your combat ability. Say it after me, RUA!”

Then, Han Xiao kicked the Tang Shu back toward the group of guards while he was still confused by what was happening.

Tang Shu was not able to go against Han Xiao, and he became extremely furious. He could only vent his anger by hitting hard on the guards, and he managed to take down two guards. However, he was soon concussed by a strike to the back of his head from one of the guards, and as a result, stars started appearing before his eyes. He ran back to Han Xiao, crying out desperately, “I really can’t do this anymore. I am begging you. You have a gun, and you can fight so well. Can you please finish them off‽”

“I can’t help you even if you beg me.” Han Xiao did not move an inch, and without a second’s hesitation, he kicked Tang Shu back into the fight scene for the third time. “I’m supporting you in spirit, and if you really need, I can give you a buff to enhance your combat ability.”

Tang Shu was in a tight spot. He eventually took down the guards with much effort. His face was fully battered, and he was panting heavily. Suddenly, he felt a gush of wind blowing past him—Han Xiao had run out of the door.

“You’d better wait for me!” Tang Shu followed behind closely, flustered and exasperated.

When the two of them walked through the alleys and passed by a grocery store, Han Xiao smashed open the door and searched for several large backpacks from the store. He then placed the antiques inside and stuffed them with sponges to prevent any damage. He felt much more comfortable after emptying his hands.

The alarm suddenly sounded, and the four police officers who were patrolling nearby quickly rushed over. They blocked the entrance of the alley. As they saw Han Xiao, who was carrying the bags, they immediately drew their guns and aimed him.

“Don’t move!”

To the side, Tang Shu was dumbfounded.

Suddenly, Han Xiao grabbed Tang Shu’s throat and used him as cover. He took out his pistol at pointed at Tang Shu’s head. “Place all the guns on the floor! I have a hostage!”

Tang Shu was stunned beyond comprehension.

What kind of plan is this‽

The four cops had looks of disbelief on their faces. They were lost for words. A young cop could not help but say, “Who are you trying to kid? He’s your accomplice!”

“Tsk, I guess that plan didn’t work.” Han Xiao pouted.

Tang Shu turned his head around and shouted at Han Xiao, “Did you actually think that could succeed‽”

“Well, I was just trying my luck. We had nothing to lose anyway.”

Han Xiao then threw the bags into Tang Shu’s hands and grabbed him by his collar. Within a split second, he activated his Electromagnetic Hover-boots and rushed toward the entrance of the alley. The four cops were shocked by the bursting speed, and they simultaneously fired their guns in his direction, but his magnetic armor deflected all the shots.

Han Xiao’s crossed his arms, and using the extreme speed at which he is moving, he rushed toward the cops like a bowling ball.

Strike!

The wind gushed past them, and Tang Shu’s mouth was wide open whilst he was being dragged by Han Xiao. The wind gushed down his throat, and his lips fluttered as a result.

Even though Han Xiao noticed Tang Shu was in a state of discomfort, he still decided to increase his speed further.

…

It was a bar in Seagull City. Lights were shining, and music was thumping. The dance floor was full of impassioned men and women moving their bodies, with a look of intoxication. The extravagant atmosphere could be felt.

Volcano and Hunter were each with a beautiful lady, caressing them all over their bodies. The table was filled with liquor bottles.

Both of them were a little drunk as they walked out of the bar with their beautiful ladies. They were intending to go to a nearby hotel for the night.

After turning into a small alley, Hunter stepped onto a pool of stagnant water. The sound of the splashing water could be heard clearly in the quiet alley.

The night wind blew, and the two of them started to slightly sober up.

Even in such a drunken state, they kept their basic vigilance, constantly observing their surroundings. They had noticed the stalker from Division 13 early on, but they had chosen to ignore it.

However, they failed to realize that, in the air behind them, a pair of eyes opened wide.

As he circled around the area where Division 13 was located, Moonlight walked on the street expressionless.

He patrolled since he had made a promise, and he did not make empty promises.

The cold moonlight shone upon him, as if his body was inhaling the energy. A silver aura seemed to form on the surface of his body, making him stand out with an elegant yet magnificent presence.

Walking past a quiet alley, Moonlight turned his head abruptly, and his ability [Power of the Moon] was suddenly activated. It formed an armor around him—his ability allowed him to use the energy from moonlight to gain physical strength.

His eyes turned white and silver, and his moonlight-wrapped fist suddenly shot into the air. It hit a body.

“Who are you‽” Moonlight exclaimed angrily.

Under the silver beams, a human figure slowly appeared from thin air.

…

Right before dawn, Han Xiao, together with Tang Shu, who was foaming at the mouth, were back at the old abandoned house. He passed the antiques over to Li Xin.

_____________________

You completed [Return antiques]!

Current number of participants: 1

Completed participants: 1

You returned ten antique pieces.

You receive 100% of the reward.

You gained 102,000 experience.

_____________________

It had not been a challenge for him since there are no other players competing in this mission.

Han Xiao looked at the interface, and it looked like the experience he had gained these few days had reached 700,000!

With the experience gained, Han Xiao waved his, turned around, and left without a trace.

Li Xin suddenly realized that she had yet to ask for Han Xiao’s name. She felt a sense of sadness. Han Xiao was just like the prince in her dream, appearing when she was in trouble, offering his help when she needed it, but disappearing right after.

Tang Shu was crouching in the corner, and he was drawing monotonic circles, mutturing, “I never want see you again.”

Han Xiao, who was walking along the streets, found a shop that had a glass window that he could use as a mirror. He was shocked when he saw the face simulated by his mask.

Wow, so handsome.

But it still can’t beat my original looks.

Han Xiao pursed his lips as he saved the image of this appearance in his mask.

At this instance, Han Xiao saw a pair of indifferent eyes in the empty space behind him in the window’s reflection.

…

Mo Ran’s office of Division 13’s Seagull City branch…

“Three assassins were killed last night—Moonlight, Volcano, and Hunter,” Di Su Su reported to Mo Ran.

“The wounds are all very similar. They seemed to have been cut by a sharp object at an extremely high speed that either pierced through the heart or slit open the throat. Based on evidence collected from the surroundings, the fight lasted less than ten seconds. These three assassins were not weaklings, especially Moonlight; he had the ability to absorb energy, which gave him a boost in physical strength. Since the killer easily got close to the three assassins, his ability must have been extremely lethal.

“Is there any footage?”

“No. The murderer must have chosen locations where there are no surveillance cameras.”

“Are there any suspects?” Mo Ran asked.

“With a hidden ability, extreme speed, and the ability to killing other elite assassins and Espers with the snap of a finger, there seems to be a matching character on the danger list… Invisible Demon!”

Wang Yuan’s face turned dark. “It’s him!”

Invisible Demon, a terrifying killer, used to be a convict on death row, but he was chosen as a subject for an experiment. As a result of the experiment, his whole body started to change. Other than the eyes, his entire body had an ability to adapt to the surroundings and blend in with the environment. He basically became an invisible man.

Furthermore, the Invisible Demon also awakened his own Esper ability, which was extreme reflex and speed. This gave him the ability to escape from the facility. Since then, he had been active in the underground world and became a mysterious killer that no one knew much about.

Wang Yuan’s face turned expressionless, and his eyes had a cold look. It is not cheap to hire the Invisible Demon; how much dirty money have these traitors pocketed from the organization‽

Although the Invisible Demon had extraordinary assassination capabilities, Bennet was not afraid. Even when he could not see something, he could rely on his other heightened senses to visualize it. He would never allow the demon to get within ten meters of Wang Yuan.

“The demon may want to get rid of my guards first, so my people will be in danger,” Wang Yuan stated. “Mo Ran, please get the people following my assassins to inform them to gather immediately.”

Di Su Su was helpless. “Golden Fox is resting in the hotel, but Mr. Black has gotten rid of his tail.”

Wang Yuan was dumbfounded. “Please send some people to try their best to look for him.”

The demon was a sniper’s worse enemy—even Bennett believed Han Xiao would most likely not survive the attack. Although he liked Han Xiao and wanted to save him, he was burdened with the responsibility of protecting Wang Yuan, thus, unable to help him. He could only pray for that Han Xiao could keep himself safe.

…

The instant the eyes appeared, Han Xiao activated his magnetic armor to cover his back and his neck. The next instant, sparks deflected off the surface of the armor, as if the armor had been hit by a sharp weapon dozens of times within the split second.

He had long known about the dangers this mission would bring, so he had always remained prepared to engage in battle. This was how he managed to react so quickly.

The impact on his back pushed Han Xiao forcefully forward into the store, shattering the glass window.

The enemy is invisible! Han Xiao immediately realized the issue at hand.

As Han Xiao fell into the store, the sense of danger followed him, and he heard someone moving through the air at high-speed. Suddenly, Han Xiao slid backward before he drew out his guns and fired at the place where the sound was heard. However, the rounds did not land on the enemy. Storage compartments were shattered instead, and bullet marks appeared on the wall.

The invisible enemy struck the armor again, giving out a harsh grating sound.

The movement is too fast! Han Xiao could only use his reflexes to preempt the strikes and then shield himself with the armor. Fortunately, his armor covered three quarters of his body. As long as he protected his vitals, the threat of the enemy was greatly reduced.

The interface displayed the damage inflicted by the enemy. The enemy was clearly a high-agility and high-attack character. Han Xiao looked at the battle info and found out the assassin’s name.

Invisible Demon! Han Xiao was taken aback as he realized how tricky the situation was.

Similar to the black spider, the Invisible Demon had established his name as one of the hardest bosses to kill on Planet Aquamarine in version 1.0. With the abilities of invisibility and super reflexes on the same person, he was born to be a close-quarters assassin.

Invisible Demon, LV 44 and extremely high agility. His invisibility is only limited to his bare body, which means the weapon he used to attack me are his nails, and he is moving around entirely naked. Talk about decency…

My movement speed is not be comparable to his. His speed is higher when it comes to short distance charging and evasion, but assassinating from a distance is not his forte. I can use my hover-boots and simply escape. But if I just escape like that, there will be another chance for him to assassinate me. Let me see if I can take him down. To tackle him effective, I have to slow him down first!

In that moment, a deluge of thoughts flashed through Han Xiao’s mind. His eyes turned ice-cold, and he entered a highly-focused state of mind.

Strike after strike hit Han Xiao, and he blocked each one with his armor. He then took some candy-sized electric bees and threw them into the surroundings.

The electric shock bees, also known as bee colonies, had stingers that carried a dangerously high voltage that could cause temporary paralysis upon contact. Multiple bees could even form an electrically-charged net to be used as a control ability. Han Xiao accidentally discovered the blueprint when he was making the hover-boots.

A group of electric shock bees flew inside the small shop, and their effect could be felt immediately.

The demon could escape with his speed, but the space that he could move within was heavily constrained, and as a result, his attack rate was reduced.

Bang bang bang!

Han Xiao fired non-stop, but the shots were all dodged. The demon was even faster than Pan Kuang—since Pan Kuang could dodge the bullets, the Invisible Demon could most certainly do it better.

Since you are so good at hiding, let’s see who has more HP!

As his eyes turned colder, Han Xiao changed the magazine and loaded the Hayme rounds. He then fired insanely. Green toxic gas filled the air within the small space, engulfing both of them.

_____________________

You have been mildly poisoned.

You will lose 3 HP per second for a minute.

You will remain in the poisoned state for as long as you are within the range of the poisonous gas, and the degree of damage will continue to increase.

_____________________

If the Invisible Demon attacked, he would be injured by the poisonous gas as well.

Han Xiao was fearless as he had brought along with him a low-level health potions. With his HP over 2,000, he turned the battlefield to his advantage and managed to defeat the opponent’s invisibility ability.

The situation was in a stalemate. The Invisible Demon was unable to deal with him, nor could Han Xiao shoot down the Invisible Demon.

Even though I will not be defeated, I am also incapable of defeating this demon. If this continues, he will definitely retreat, and that will just be a draw in the end.

Han Xiao was determined to kill the demon who could threaten his life. Upon second thought, he decided to abandon on the comfortable situation he had created. He activated his hover-boots and fled from the battlefield. As expected, the demon chased after him.

He pretended to control the armor slowly, showing his flaws to the demon. Unsurprisingly, it then scratched him forcefully on his back. Despite being racked with pain from the demon’s claws, Han Xiao maintained a straight face. This was all to test the impact of the demon’s attack on his body.

_____________________

You have been attacked by Invisible Demon (LV 44).

You have lost 37 HP.

_____________________

Just one attack and I’ve lost almost forty health points. Furthermore, the attack frequency is extremely high. Lucky, I am wearing my magnetically controlled armor, or else my blood level would have depleted within ten seconds.

Han Xiao had never been more serious when he realized that the Invisible Demon was the strong opponent for the fifth mission. There were likely other challengers that had already encountered the demon before him and perished.

After numerous trials and tests using different speeds of the hover-boots, he finally estimated the speed of the demon.

If I keep the hover-boots at a medium speed, it will be the right speed for the demon to catch up, but it won’t be too easy. Worth a try!

With the new plan in mind, Han Xiao instantly turned and skated toward the airport. The Invisible Demon was close behind.

Fortunately, it was dawn, and the streets were empty. If it had been rush hour, Han Xiao’s path would have been full of obstructions.

Han Xiao fished out his phone and called Antonio to bring the Second-Generation Rover over. After putting down the phone, he then concentrated on ‘baiting’ the demon.

Baiting was not an easy technique. The key was to ensure that the enemy never realized that he had a trump card, or else it would be hard for the enemy to fall for the trick. Just like playing MOBA games, if someone suddenly became too aggressive, the enemy would know that there was backup somewhere.

The game of chase lasted for a few minutes. Suddenly, Han Xiao’s sensed that he was no longer in crisis. He came to a stop before surveying the environment, when he realized that the Invisible Demon had not fallen for the trick and fled moments ago.

The Invisible Demon was always on his feet. Initially, when Han Xiao released the poisonous gas, the demon had already planned to retreat. However, Han Xiao gave up on his favorable environment and acted as though he was unable to withstand the damage caused by the gas. As a result, the demon took the bait and caught up quickly.

Even though there were no loopholes, the Invisible Demon noticed something was amiss almost instantly. This made him feel threatened, so he decided to retreat, giving up on the target decisively.

He’s too alert, Han Xiao thought disappointedly, but he soon mocked himself for such a thought. If the Invisible Demon was so easy to deal with, he would not have been ranked as one of the hardest to kill.

A few problems had arisen as the ferocious battle proceeded. Facing an enemy higher than LV 40, regardless of whether the enemy was more an agility or tank type, the gun seemed powerless. The main problem was that Han Xiao lacked the skills to be a shooter. He was always missing his shots.

The problem that Han Xiao was thinking about was also a dilemma in Version 1.0 of the game. The lethality of ordinary gunpowder weapons was limited when a player was facing an enemy above LV 50. Despite being powerful, most guns were still relatively weak against the super demons unless the player had set up traps beforehand.

An electromagnetic gun was the next generation weapon. Many improvements on fire power and shooting speed had been made to the weapon. These improvements met Han Xiao’s needs. With the speed of the bullets improved, it would be more difficult for the enemies to dodge them.

To build proper, complete, and stable electromagnetic weapons, one required full knowledge on the magnetism theory. Planet Aquamarine’s advanced knowledge on the magnetism theory was strictly controlled.

Han Xiao frowned. If I want to create my own electromagnetic gun, I will need to construct my own blueprints. The theory behind portable electromagnetic guns is not that difficult to understand or hard to control if my basic electromagnetism theory is upgraded to Level5.

However, it will be difficult if I want to make it into a real weapon as there will be a lot of details to take note of. To reduce the experimental time, it is best to have a direction to work toward, such as having blueprints of existing weapons and then making further enhancements to them.

After some time, Antonio arrived with his van. He looked left and right, then asked, “Where’s the enemy?”

“Ran away.”

Han Xiao hopped onto the van and simply said, “Let’s return to the plane. I need to fix the equipment first and then think of a new plan.”

“Do you really take me for your driver?”

Antonio had no choice but to drive Han Xiao to the airport.

…

The battle between Han Xiao and the Invisible Demon created a great commotion. Division 13 investigated and discovered traces of the battle.

“A sniper, not afraid of being killed by the Invisible Demon, and even managed to force the demon to flee?”

Di Su Su was surprised as she thought of how threatening this Mr. Black had made her feel in River Valley Manor with his extraordinary strength.

Bennett’s eyes shone with surprise. “Where is he now?”

“He is related to Farian Company. He is on that company’s aircraft at the moment.”

“He should be preparing and fixing his equipment now,” Wang Yuan replied. “Let’s not alert him yet. Mo Ran, can I trouble you to have someone send a message to ask Mr. Black to come to River Valley Manor tomorrow morning?”

“Alright.” Mo Ran nodded.

Standing at the side was Golden Fox, who had been invited over previously. At that point, her face was pale like a sheet of paper. Mr. Black was the fourth target of the Invisible Demon while she was the fifth. Fortunately, Mr. Black had forced the Invisible Demon to retreat and allowed her to escape.

Golden Fox doubted if she would have been able to survive the attack by the Invisible Demon.

He saved my life.

Golden Fox bit her lip. Mr. Black was mysterious and good at everything. The only issue was that his preferences were a little too strange.

…

Inside the aircraft, Han Xiao was busy fixing the magnetic armor. At the same time, he thought about the construction of the magnetic gun. The most suitable type of gun would be a sniper as it could complement his movement ability and maximize the gun power at the same time.

With seven talent points, Han Xiao spent five points to upgrade [Basic Electromagnetism Theory], [Basic Weapon Theory], and [Basic Energy Theory] to the maximum of Level5.

Han Xiao selected [Basic Electromagnetism Theory] as the core skill and came up with various skill set combinations. He then constructed many magnetism related blueprints as he penned down his ideas, regardless of their viability. Each skill set would be incorporated at least twice.

With tons of blueprints in his hands, his brain juices were finally used up. He massaged his temples and sighed. “I think that’s enough, time to construct.”

Farian Company had no contacts through which to acquire materials in Seagull City. The electromagnetic materials that Han Xiao had brought along with him were limited, yet it would be enough if he removed and reused the parts from his failed products. However, some of the parts might become worn out when the products failed. With that, the recycling rate was approximately 80%.

Han Xiao predicted that it would be hard to construct a stable electromagnetic gun without failing more than ten times when he tried to build the basic structure of the gun.

If I want to succeed, I have to lower my expectations and create the prototype first with the specifications adjusted.

Han Xiao hesitated and finally decided he would first create the test product, then the prototype, and not to be too ambitious.

With a clear plan in mind, Han Xiao proceeded to create the weapons.

The updated weapons were of the utmost importance to the military force, and light weapons were the main focus.

The principle of electromagnetic weapons was not complicated as it was just using the electromagnetic force to push the bullets. The more challenging part was the actual debugging itself, as there were many variables like the number of coil turns, current voltage, limited energy, speed, distance.

By reaching Level5 in [Basic Energy Theory], it gave Han Xiao a new blueprint—a new form of energy battery. It was referred to as a Rubik’s Cube, and it was a precise component. It could store up to 180 ouna, allowing its capacity to be several times that of an ordinary battery.

The Six Nations were experimenting on other batteries, such as power batteries, superconducting batteries, and even micro nuclear batteries, that could be used in different aspects. But the Rubik’s Cube was one of the more convenient kinds of batteries used by mechanics.

The same theory could have countless possibilities as the future of science did not have a fixed road. Technology was always changing, so it was interesting to explore different possibilities.

…

_____________________

Failure.

_____________________

Failure.

_____________________

Despite his many failures, Han Xiao never gave up and kept trying, improving the details each time.

“It’s getting late.”

Han Xiao took a look at the sky and felt it was a pity he had to stop doing his work.

Anthony then walked in. “There were people from Division 13 who came to find you earlier.”

“What did they say?”

“Your employer has changed the timing needed to assemble, so you do not have to rush over. Just get to River Valley Manor by tomorrow morning.”

Han Xiao was pleased with that as he realized that would give him more time to continue his work.

…

At night, Wang Yuan and friends sat quietly in the car and made their way back to the manor safely.

Wang Yuan and Bennet then walked into the villa, went to the room on the top floor, and closed the door.

“Xena has locked away all the traitors, and the operation this time was successful. Other than getting rid of the traitors, the organization can also start to implement your ideas,” said Wang Yuan.

Bennett nodded. “I have a hunch that the battle will start sooner than expected, and we need to prepare early to escape from the crisis. We will need the cooperation of other forces and organizations to complete the plan.”

“One thing I know for sure is that the Six Nations will definitely help,” Wang Yuan replied. “During the discussion previously, you saw Mo Ran’s attitude. Getting the Six Nations’ help will be highly beneficial. With his aid, we will be able to escape the crisis. I am just afraid there will be ambitious parties eyeing our resources.”

Bennett’s eyes flashed, and his voice was like a gush of icy wind blowing from the north. “This is a plan to save many innocent lives. I will deal with anyone who tries to get in our way!”

At that instant, Wang Yuan was about to speak when a sharp piercing sound reverberated outside the manor.

The two looked outside the window and saw a lightning shoot up into the sky. The manor gate was then struck by the lightning, and it was thrown into an armored vehicle.

Someone flashing with light walked toward the gate, and it looked like the frightening lightning earlier had been shot from him. The strong gate, which had withstood a storm of bullets, had been instantly destroyed!

The mercenaries screamed and were all frantically shooting machine guns and firing cannons. However, Raging Bolt did not give in and shot lightning from his feet. He shot up ten meters into the air and blasted his original spot on the ground.

In the air, Raging Bolt clenched his fists and lightning shot out from his chest. A strong burst of electricity flashed, burning the cornea of every mercenary on the ground.

Boom!

The area where all the machine guns were located was blasted. A few of the mercenaries who were struck by the light were electrocuted before they could even utter a word. The smell of smoke filled the entire area.

The impact of this battle left all of them shocked. A stream of frigid air that felt like death creeped up their spines.

With the death of Volcano and Moonlight, there was no one in the manor strong enough to defeat the enemy. Even Mr. Black was not around.

“We can’t defeat this level of Superhuman!” A mercenary backed away fearfully.

Chen Li’s eyes were fierce with determination, and he gave the order to start the attack again.

Raging Bolt was not in the least injured when he dropped down from the sky. When he saw that the mercenaries still had the will to fight, he smirked coldly. “Ha… bunch of idiots not knowing your limits.”

He then raised his hands and thrust his palms forward. An invisible electromagnetic pulse spread across the manor and damaged all electronic components, resulting in total darkness.

The mercenaries were all shocked. Even the vehicles were damaged, so there was no way to escape even if they wanted to!

Despair filled the air quickly.

Wang Yuan took a look at Raging Bolt, and his face darkened. “Raging Bolt Bai Jin’s power is the generation and control of lightning. He’s a superhuman with great potential, and he has been very active in the criminal underworld in recent years.”

“Oh c’mon, it’s just a young man. Let me deal with him since the lads outside can’t handle him.”

Bennett maintained the same expression as he pushed open the window and jumped to the ground. Pushing aside the mercenaries, he captured all their attention as he walked toward Raging Bolt. Only then did they realize that there was someone who could defeat Raging Bolt, and a ray of hope shone upon them.

“What? There was actually a strong opponent!” Raging Bolt excitedly licked his lips and mobilized all the energy stored in his body.

“No matter how many weak opponents I defeated, the pleasure of beating a strong opponent is just incomparable.”

Raging Bolt stared at Bennett with the eyes of a wolf.

…

The vehicle of Division 13 was situated in the forest, monitoring any movement in the manor.

Raging Bolt is way too powerful, thought Di Su Su as she wiped away the sweat on her brow.

I have to report this to Mo Ran quickly as such threats could cause dire consequences to our city.

Di Su Su immediately picked up the phone and called Mo Ran.

On the screens, the battle between Bennett and Raging Bolt was ongoing. Both were about to release their strongest moves any time!

It was the moment when everyone held their breath.

However…

Raging Bolt’s chest suddenly burst into a bloody fog.

Following which, everyone heard an eerie gun shot from afar.

Two hours earlier…

“I finally succeeded!”

An excited cheer could be heard from Han Xiao on the Farian transport plane.

A brand-new sniper rifle was lying on the bench, and it looked very different from a gunpowder rifle. Its entire body was dark green. The gun was very thick while its front end was narrow. It also had sharp edges, just like a triangle.

The entire barrel was embedded in the gun body, and the exposed part of the coil was tightly wrapped up.

The gun was 0.87 meters long, and it was equipped with a multi-fold aiming rule sight. It also had an electromagnetic scanning function, so both sides could be used.

_____________________

You discovered [Ghost Sniper (Incomplete)]!

_____________________

Ghost Sniper (Incomplete)

Type: Electromagnetic Sniper Rifle

Grade: White

Damage: 183-246

Fire Rate: 2/second

Magazine Capacity: 16

Range: 1.1km

Power Output: 144

Usage Requirement: 45 Dexterity, Level6 Sniper

Ammunition Type: Electromagnetic Ammunition

Length: 0.87m

Weight: 6kg

Additional Features: Recoil is low, increasing firing accuracy.

Incomplete Limit 1: Power, fire rate, and range are limited.

Incomplete Limit 2: As the technology is not complete, the weapon’s energy consumption is high. Each shot will consume 10 ouna (Battery holds 180 ouna).

Incomplete Limit 3: As the technology is not complete, some components will need to be replaced after 20 to 30 shots.

Full version requirements: Level1 [Advanced Electromagnetism Theory] (lack), Level5 [Basic Energy Theory], Level5 [Basic Weapon Theory], Level1 [Basic Energy Conversion Theory] (lack)

_____________________

What a surprise! Han Xiao was exhilarated as he did not expect to get an incomplete version of the drawing, which also meant that as long as he had the knowledge, he could directly obtain the full drawing.

The ghost sniper rifle was a stable electromagnetic weapon, but Han Xiao still lacked two important pieces of information at the moment. It was very hard to obtain the advanced information; thus, he was very satisfied with obtaining the incomplete version.

Even if the ghost sniper rifle was an incomplete edition, it was two or three times more efficient. Electromagnetic weapons usually had a shooting range of ‘over the horizon’, so the defects were not obvious yet.

As for the limitations, Han Xiao had thought of a temporary solution, which was to have more spare batteries. This way, he would not have to worry about the high energy consumption. The only problem was that it was very costly. But for Han Xiao, money was not an issue. It was the same method for the other rifles, and the replacement parts were already in place.

Electromagnetic weapons were different from gunpowder ones as they required electrical conductors, and this was quite a huge problem. However, given some time, he would be able to utilize the principle of special ammunition. In the short term, however, he could only use special ammunitions for his gunpowder weapons, so he would not be throwing away his Red-Falcon sniper.

Han Xiao then built two magazines with magnetic clips.

All of a sudden, his eyelids started to feel heavy, and a wave of fatigue gushed over him. He held the side of the table for support and took a deep breath.

He did not sleep a wink last night. He had first completed [Return the Antiques], and subsequently, he had battled against the Invisible Demon. He had only briefly taken care of his wounds. Then, without a break, he had begun to develop new guns late into the night. His body was able to withstand the exhaustion, but his mental fatigue had been accumulating.

That is all for today.

Han Xiao rubbed his eyes and switched off his equipment.

The surroundings quieted down.

The people on the airplane were all resting. Han Xiao did not want to stay any longer, so he took his equipment and drove back to the manor. He needed to get back quickly so that he did not miss anything while he was not at the manor.

With Han Xiao’s alertness, he had smelt something fishy from Wang Yuan’s instructions to return to the manor the next morning. He had a hunch that if he really went back the next morning, he might miss out on an opportunity. Therefore, Han Xiao decided to be more cautious.

…

After a long journey, he finally arrived at the manor.

Suddenly, a flash of lightning hit his windscreen, and Han Xiao rammed the breaks forcefully.

There are enemies attacking the manor? Shit, this really is a flag!

After putting out the fire, he quietly sneaked onto the tree with his equipment. He then took out a telescope to check out the battle outside the manor and was shocked by what he saw.

“Provided it’s not a character I do not know, Planet Aquamarine only has four characters who possess this level of ability. They are Duss Thunder, Electric Eye, Raging Bolt, and an Germinal executive. This person’s lightning abilities are so powerful, and they can release an EMP externally. This is likely Raging Bolt!”

Another famous figure from Aquamarine!

After observing for a while, Bennett finally walked out of the manor. Han Xiao’s eyes flashed. He had thought that he would have to settle the problem himself.

As he thought that, Han Xiao suddenly deduced the hidden requirement for the Fifth Round. Most likely, the upper limit of the special reward—300,000 Experience—was for ensuring that Bennett did not need to get involved.

With this in mind, Han Xiao immediately picked up the rife and aimed at Raging Bolt.

“Flaming Will!” Han Xiao shouted.

Shouting was not required, but he felt that it would give him a higher chance of getting what he wanted.

_____________________

You activated [Flaming Will]!

Your next attack will cause 180% base damage.

_____________________

Han Xiao then pulled the trigger, and the exposed part of the gun glowed bright blue. The bullet flew out at such a high speed that the enemy could not react.

The recoil was minimal, and it had little effect on accuracy.

The blue light penetrated the body of the Raging Bolt, not allowing him to escape in time.

It hit the heart, which exploded into a bloody fog.

The interface flashed with the results of his move.

_____________________

You have caused 200% stealth damage to Raging Bolt.

You have caused 200% critical damage to Raging Bolt.

[Flaming Will]’s bonus caused the attack to be multiplied to 342!

Critical Strike! Damage multiplied by 4!

1,368 damage!

You have caused 1,175 damage to Raging Bolt after resistance reductions!

You have damaged the heart of Raging Bolt.

The damage has taken one third of his life.

Raging Bolt has fallen into a state of severe bleeding, losing 2% life per second for 10 seconds.

Raging Bolt is paralyzed. His defense is reduced by 30% for 3 seconds.

Raging Bolt is in a weakened state. All his attributes have decreased by 50% for 30 seconds.

_____________________

Raging Bolt spat out blood as he fell to the ground. His heart had been pierced, and his entire body was devoid of energy. He gazed in the direction that the bullet had come from, his eyes filled with pain and agony.

Bennett was shocked as Raging Bolt was a powerful character, yet he was no match for the sniper rifle? The power of the gun had indeed exceeded his imagination.

“I cannot die here!” Raging Bolt bit his teeth, holding back the pain as he was about to escape.

Han Xiao, who was hiding a distance away, shot Raging Bolt a second time, sending a bullet through his brain.

The third shot then followed, shooting the left eye, causing red and white fluids to spill to the ground.

“Fatal attack!”

Raging Bolt fell to the ground, his remaining eye full of despair.

Everyone was stunned.

Those three shots were like the god of death wielding a knife, taking away his life. The air of death had silenced the entire audience.

Bennett heaved a sigh of relief.

Three shots!

It had only taken three shots!

A criminal who had taken the lives of many could actually be killed in seconds!

The mercenaries around were shocked; the turn of the situation had exceeded their imagination.

That thunder-like enemy had been defeated in just three shots?

Impossible!

In the distance, even Di Su Su’s tone trembled as she yelled, “Who shot that‽”

Han Xiao looked up from the scope, surprised. He was also shocked by the power of the three shots. The second shot was a critical shot, greatly weakening Bai Yu’s attributes. It was as if the actual damage had doubled. The first two shots were so impactful. Han Xiao roughly estimated that a player like Bai Yu, who was at LV 48, was likely strong in offense yet weak in defense. Therefore, his HP would roughly be at around 2,500 after the second shot. Thus, he fired the third shot as the last fatal blow, killing Bai Yu in just mere seconds!

The key blow was the very first shot, which inflicted explosive damage on Bai Yu, causing him to crumble at once. He became an easy target.

_____________________

You have gained 64,000 experience points by slaying Bai Yu (LV 48).

You surmounted the fourteen-level difference. You will get 360% additional XP bonus, bringing the total to 230,400 XP.

Your personal contribution rate was 100%!

You’ve gained an extra 230,400 (100%) experience points!

_____________________

Han Xiao himself did not even think that he could successfully complete the leap-level killing. 300,000 XP in a matter of seconds made up for the XP that he had used up to for the fusion of blueprints to manufacture the Ghost sniper rifle. There was in fact an excess of XP.

He looked at the manor again and realized that it was all quiet outside.

Everyone stood rooted to the ground. They had originally thought that there would be an impending bitter fight and had braced themselves for it. Yet, things had happened in just a flash, leaving everyone stunned.

Pitter-patter…

Footsteps could be heard creaking through the forest, and everyone’s eyes immediately veered toward the sound, full of curiosity, awe, and fear.

At that very moment, dark clouds gradually began covering the moonlight, and the silver moonlight faded into the clouds. Han Xiao, who was in a black suit, walked out of the forest with the moonlight shining on the bottom half of his face. The moonlight seemingly backed away as he advanced, and darkness was following his every step. It was as if he was bringing about nightmares with the darkness. He was a spirit concealed in the night.

This scene made him look ever so cool and led everyone to hold their breath for that moment. This very moment was deeply ingrained into everyone’s memories.

“Mr. Black!”

“It’s him‽”

Everyone gasped in shock, for they knew Mr. Black was extremely strong, but little did they know he was this powerful.

Bennett was surprised. He did not expect himself to be dazed by Han Xiao as well. Judging by the explosive destructive power of Han Xiao, it was more than sufficient to threaten him. And as Han Xiao walked closer, Bennett could not help but praised him. “Well done.”

“It wasn’t much,” Han Xiao replied, modest as always.

Looking around him, there mercenaries who gathered around were staring at him in silence. Han Xiao said sternly, “Don’t just stand there. Go do what you’re supposed to be doing.”

The mercenaries came back to reality as though waking up from a dream, and they hurriedly began to repair the fortifications of the manor. All of them accepted Han Xiao’s command without much thought.

Bai Yu’s body was then moved in, covered casually with a cloth. Nobody would forget that this was a supreme fighter, and every time they saw it, their respect for Han Xiao would grow even deeper.

The corpse of an enemy was a medal of accomplishment.

Han Xiao walked into the manor, and Wang Yuan came over. This time, his smile did not mean just a welcome invitation but also full of appreciation and sincerity. “Stunning three shots! This old man here was shocked by you as well.”

“You’re too polite.” Han Xiao waved his hand and glanced at Bennett next to him. “With him around, you won’t even be in any risk.”

Wang Yuan smiled. “I’ve checked the file. The Rothschild Family introduced you to this mission. Your strength widely exceeds the level of Dark. I will raise your level directly to Ghost.”

This was an obvious act to gain his favor. An immediate promotion to Ghost made Han Xiao surprised. He nodded, accepting Wang Yuan’s kindness.

…

In the woods, Di Su Su had solemnness written all over her face. She reported on Han Xiao’s performance.

“Mr. Black possesses immense sniping ability, and his lethality is hard to behold. I suggest that we add him to the extreme threats target file.”

“Permission granted,” Mo Ran responded.

Division 13 had a database for all extremely dangerous targets, and this was also called the extreme threats file. Han Xiao’s performance had already attracted their attention, especially the fact that he was a sniper.

…

Early the next morning, Wang Yuan summoned all the mercenaries and declared that all guard duties were to end that instant. All the gains from the task would be directly credited to their accounts.

The traitors in the organization had already been captured. Wang Yuan’s goal was completed.

As for the Invisible Demon, the owner had died, so it naturally stopped attacking.

Han Xiao checked the deposit—two million dollars, twice the initial agreement. This was likely Wang Yuan deliberately compensating him extra due to the performance of his last three shots, which was well worth the price.

_____________________

The fifth round has been completed. You gained 30,000 Experience points.

The hidden request to ensure that Bennett did not join the battle has been completed. You gained 300,000 Experience points.

_____________________

This time there was not an additional mission segment, which meant that the chain mission had ended. The level of Experience he had accumulated so far broke the one million mark! This mission’s reward was way too fruitful.

Finally completed this mission.

Han Xiao felt more relaxed. He went on to find Bennett and gave him the Lock HOC sniper rifle.

“You’re giving me another present?” Bennett was bewildered. Noting that this present was to his liking yet again, he could not help but ask, “What request do you have?”

“I would like to learn the art of combat.”

Why is he saying this again?

Bennett’s head hurt. After thinking for a while, he decided to teach a set of skills suitable for Han Xiao’s sniper ability and began to explain.

“In my early years, I was once an assassin known for my stealth. Perhaps these skills can help you a little…”

After hearing Bennett’s explanation for over an hour, Han Xiao was awarded with a new mission.

_____________________

You have triggered level D mission [Night Stalker (Class Change)].

Task Summary: You have learned some special skills from Bennett’s explanation, but you still need practice them to perfect them.

Mission Requirements: Complete 5 assassination missions in the dark (No limit on level).

Reward: [Night Stalker] Class

_____________________

Night Stalker—this was a class that Han Xiao had long wanted to attain from Bennett to be able to learn stealth skills, critical strike bonuses from stealth hits, and other skills. Coupled with his Flaming Will and Ghost sniper rifle, he could perfect the art of stealth battles. Moreover, this would give him the chance to enable the [Fatal Shot] specialty.

This class was already extremely rare in version 1.0, and the attribute bonuses were not low. The experience needed to level up was less than the main profession, yet the sub-profession was able to be used for improving his combat skills.

After explaining, Bennett paused and said, “I can tell that your energy is not strong, but your lethality is unfathomable. Here’s my number; you can find me anytime you need me. Who knows, I may need your help in the future as well, what do you think?”

“Sure.”

Han Xiao blinked, promptly recalling one of Bennett’s main story missions. Since he had no objection to this, they exchanged numbers.

On a side note, the phone that Han Xiao was currently using was no longer the black brick machine that Division 13 had given him.

The defense mission had finally ended. The mercenaries all heaved a sigh of relief. They proceeded to pack up, and as they were about to leave, Han Xiao walked around to collect the phone numbers of the assassins and mercenary leaders. Who knew, maybe they would be of use some day?

Golden Fox took the initiative to give Han Xiao her number. She promptly left afterward, fearing the strength of Han Xiao. Furthermore, she could not stand his strange taste.

The manor became much calmer now with the crowd having dispersed. Han Xiao drove back to Seagull City airport and departed on Farian Company’s plane.

Having levelled up through two highly rewarding missions, Han Xiao had accumulated tons of experience. The big action plan that was about to start before the public testing began would likely be following the trend of reward-based missions.

I have already become a Ghost-level assassin with priorities in receiving tasks, commissions, and intelligence. Now that I have paved the way, I can definitely become a Legend if it all goes according to plan. All I’ll have to do is complete this final goal…

Screw Germinal!

I hope that you all can withstand the violent love I’ll be showering upon you.

Han Xiao laughed devilishly and rather coldly at the same time.

…

In the Intelligence Headquarters of Division 13, the Intelligence Minister had received a file about the application for the transfer of Mr. Black into the extreme threats target file.

“Mr. Black, of unknown source and unknown origin, is currently a serial killer. Only completed two missions, smashed the Rose Militant mercenary gang of the Somar Desert, displayed extraordinary sniping ability when guarding the valley of Manor, caused the Invisible Demon to retreat, killed Bai Yu with just three shots.

“He possesses extreme alertness and excellent stealth ability (NB: He shook off the stalker of Division 13). He is also a mechanic, has high speed boots with sliding ability, and possesses shocking killing ability. He uses a special sniper rifle.

“Requires special attention.”

After reading the information sent by Seagull City, the Intelligence Minister felt a sense of looming imminent danger.

“Seems like another amazing player has appeared.”

He took out his stamp and stamped firmly onto the footer of the document.

“Entry file approved!”

…

Something big had happened in the underworld. The list of killers in the Dark Net had a shocking major change. An unknown killer by the name of Mr. Black was added, and among the thousand names, he skyrocketed to number 23 on the killer list.

“I’ve never heard of this name before, where did he come from?”

“The Dark Net’s list has always been fair. It was impossible that this is in any way untoward. Quickly, go ask around about this Mr. Black guy.”

People of various strongholds were on the phone, calling each other about Mr. Black. The underworld intelligence network began to collaborate with one another to find information about him. Some mercenaries and killers who had once fought aside one another at River Valley Manor spoke up about it.

Han Xiao’s extraordinary feat of killing Bai Yu in three shots sparked a commotion in the underworld.

Those who knew Bai Yu thought the news was fake when they first heard it, but the hard evidence of Bai Yu’s horrible death captured by the mercenaries proved them wrong. It was those three shots that caused his death.

The killers who knew about it were shocked. Even though Bai Yu was strong at attacking and weak at defense, he was still a high-level individual on Planet Aquamarine. He was not afraid of bullets. How could he have been killed in a matter of seconds?

More and more people went to investigate the origins of Mr. Black, only to realize that this person had simply appeared out of thin air. No one knew his identity. He was like a ghost, appearing out of the blue, floating around in the underworld.

Mysterious and powerful, Mr. Black’s codename became known by everyone in the underworld. It entered the list of people to take note of for many forces.

Many old-schoolers would say that the killer should be hidden in the darkness—becoming famous was equivalent to failure. However, to the Blood Pact Society, with fame came greetings, and it was also a form of deterrence. Any enemy who threatened the Dark Net organization needed to take precautionary measures—could they withstand the continuous attacks from the killer alliance?

The Blood Pact Society had been weakening as the elder killers died, those who wanted to leave had left, and those who wanted to retire did so. Ever since then, the killer alliance’s days had been numbered. With Mr. Black’s new fame, Blood Pact Society was out to make Mr. Black their poster boy.

Thorns was traveling alone in the endless plains of Karst. The vehicle definitely looked scary and threatening, like a spiky porcupine. The vehicle was dragging a huge container as it travelled. It looked odd as if it had a light head and heavy torso. There were huge batches of raw materials worth millions stored in the container, all of which had been purchased by Han Xiao in a single consignment.

Han Xiao was the only one on the car. As he was driving, he was looking at the radar coordinates. He was heading toward the ruins known as Graymetal Ruins.

After completing the mission at River Valley Manor, there was a large increase in the affection of the Blood Pact Society toward him. The Blood Pact Society was now ‘friendly’ toward him. Based on his current progress, he would be able to hit the legendary level before the public beta. Also, he could complete the Class Change mission along the way and officially become a Night Stalker.

The side-profession he planned to attain was rarer in version 1.0. He planned to not only use it to attain new skills—he also prepared himself to advance up to level 40 and start another level-advancement mission. The maximum level of an apprentice mechanic was 15. The higher the level, the larger the increases in Experience points. Based on his current efficiency at gaining Experience points, adding a side profession was a good move. Also, the side profession allowed him to improve his combat style.

Before Han Xiao carried out the plan for his assault on the Germinal Organization, he planned to create a secret base for him to deposit supplies and round up weapons and essential equipment. That was to ensure that he had a place to retreat to if his mission failed.

Based on his current situation, the Farian Company seemed like it was able to provide a reliable hideout. However, Han Xiao had cultivated the good habit of preparing alternative solutions and redundancies. Although the possibility of getting into a conflict with the Farian Company was rather unlikely, he would still feel safer if he was completely in charge of his own fate.

Anything could change in this world, and it was especially so for relationships. Han Xiao had seen too many of such cases, especially the relationships with his ex-girlfriends.

More often than not, genuine feelings lost out to tactics in terms of attracting one’s heart. If there was a color to ‘love’, it would be the color of ‘forgiveness’. The world was just too much of a mess, such that anyone could lose their footing if they were not careful. It was not worth mentioning, not worth mentioning…

Getting close to the ruins of the Graymetal Ruins.

The maroon soil looked like dried up spats of blood. Once the tires went past the dried-up hard blocks of soil, the sound of the friction between the tires and the soil could be heard. Through the window, one could also see the oddly-shaped plants that were sparsely growing on the plains. The land before his eyes indeed looked barren.

In the distance, he could see the silhouette of an abandoned city. Graymetal Ruins was a dead city that even the vagrants avoided. The only creatures that resided in the city were insects and animals.

Graymetal Ruins had once been the capital of an old regime, and green pastures had surrounded the city. When the fires of war reached the city, the place was reduced to rubble, and the green plains turned into a barren landscape.

Mighty civilizations and abandoned cities coexisted on this planet. The world was constantly changing, regardless of it changing for better or worse.

There was an abandoned base among the ruins that the outside world did not know of. The abandoned base was in fact Han Xiao’s target.

As Han Xiao moved closer to the city, the scene before his eyes became more dilapidated. Vines could be seen creeping along the walls of the wrecked buildings. The streets were completely empty and covered with moss.

Only a couple of lizards hopped out from the cracks on the road.

The rumble of the vehicle’s engine seemed to have awakened the city. Bugs crawled out from the buildings and cracks on the roads. They rested along the street, watching the vehicle speed past them. They used their limbs to scratch their eyes and moved their antennae.

On the south side of the ruins, there was a building that resembled a military facility surrounded by barbed wire. Fortunately, the wires were not charged with electricity. The interior of the building had collapsed.

Han Xiao drove his vehicle in and parked outside a bunker with the red label ‘S-539’. There was only small entrance left into the bunker. Dust particles were floating in the air, filling his nose.

After Han Xiao alighted from his car, he took out the mechanical spider and threw it into the bunker. He had modified the camera on the spider. The spider was now equipped with thermal-vision and electromagnetic sensors. It even had hearing abilities.

Half an hour later, the spider reported that there were no signs of life in the bunker. Han Xiao then made his way into the building. He navigated through the darkness with his torch, making his way to a small room in the bunker. He found a small crack in the wall and pulled hard. An elevator well was revealed behind the wall.

The abandoned base that he was searching for was in the basement of the bunker.

Han Xiao knew this place very well. In fact, this base was also his in his past life. However, it was unfortunately taken over by a guild.

At that point in time, Han Xiao had still been a young lad who was easily bullied by others. However, when he looked at the base again now, he realized that the base had great defensive infrastructure in place. As long as he was able to supply electricity to the building, the base was practically impregnable to attacks. He only had himself to blame for giving in to his enemies in his previous life.

The underground base was very spacious and had two emergency passages. There were spider webs and dust everywhere.

I shall call this place the Graymetal Base. Han Xiao came up with a practical name for the facility.

There was no source of energy in the base. Han Xiao took out the flashlights that he had brought with him to light up the place. He then started to execute the most important task, which was the energy modification operation. The Graymetal Base previously had a cable that connected it with the power station. However, since the city was abandoned, the power station had stopped its operations.

The power station was located some distance away from the Graymetal Base.

Han Xiao entered the power station only to discover that most of the generators were faulty. However, he never planned to rely on the old generators. He had expected such a scenario to occur; therefore, he had spent a huge sum of money and bought a batch for solar-powered generators. He dragged these generators out of the container and altered the wiring in the power station. He switched out the faulty items in the power station and connected the electric cable from the military base to his new solar-powered generator.

When Han Xiao returned to his base, the base was already powered up. The lights were switched on, and the interior of the base was clearly shown before his eyes.

The base, which had been covered in darkness for so long, was finally embraced with light.

The solar-powered generators were clean, efficient, and discrete. The additional electricity that was not expended in the day would be stored in the batteries. The generated electricity would likely cover one full day of activity.

Han Xiao started to clean up the base. Due to the prolonged period of inactivity, everything was covered in a layer of filth. It was while he was cleaning that he started to miss Lu Qian, who had superb housekeeping skills. Han Xiao had not seen Lu Qian for some time, and her cooking was something he longed for.

“I wonder what her reaction is for leaving without a word.”

Thinking back to Old Man Lu’s repeated recommendation of his granddaughter, Han Xiao could not help but smile.

After the housekeeping session, he carried the supplies out of his vehicle. The material and spare parts were all sorted out and stored. The bottles of water and canned food were placed in in the gigantic fridge. Following which, he used some of his Experience points to raise his [Basic Programming] to Level10. He then modified the main control room and created a chip to organize and store the data of all the activities in the base. The main use of the system was to map out the energy usage so that electricity could be better allocated for the different activities.

For the next few days, Han Xiao was busy modifying the base, and it slowly began to take shape. The base was equipped with infra-red, thermal scanners. The defenses put in place were light machine guns and booby-traps. The bunker on the ground level was also repaired. Additionally, the large gate was fixed up so that the base was better hidden.

However, the most important point was that Han Xiao created three robotic assistants to serve as his workers.

The skill of [Elementary Programming] at the maximum level could create low-level chips that were able to store simple blueprints that the robotic assistant could follow and manufacture according to the plans autonomously. Han Xiao could also gain a part of the Experience from the items successfully manufactured by the robots. This meant that there would be incoming Experience for Han Xiao all day, every day. One robot assistant could generate 2,000 to 4,000 Experience, so three robot assistants could contribute a steady 10,000 Experience points.

There was a limit on the energy that could be used by the Graymetal Base, and the three robot assistants made it reach this limit. The stored raw materials and spare parts were also only sufficient for around ten days of continuous activity by the robot assistants. The logistical flow of the system he had set-up could not be disturbed. Han Xiao could also make use of this period of time to carry out his assassination mission and gain skills that could help him refine his process.

If the earlier players wanted to develop a base, they could only employ a team of mechanics to complete their base. That was because most players had certain gaps in experience that they could not fulfill themselves. They had different areas of specialties in terms of their knowledge, and that meant that there were also many areas they were unfamiliar with. However, my three separate branches of knowledge are upgraded together. That makes me master the different aspects of the job alone. However, my strategy has a huge flaw of requiring me to possess an especially large sum of Experience that is several times more than that of normal players.

Luckily for Han Xiao, he had his ways.

The Graymetal Base might not be the largest, but it was definitely one that had all the necessary items that were required. The base also looked new and tidy after Han Xiao’s refurbishment and housekeeping. Han Xiao could feel a deep sense of achievement when he saw the fruits of his labor.

Finally, I am a man with some assets.

After completing the modification of his secret base, it was time for him to begin his assaults on the Germinal Organization. He had been left with no time to spare for the Germinal Organization lately, and that resulted in the organization recovering and growing from the previous damage that Han Xiao had caused. Indeed, the Germinal Organization had recovered by 0.01%.

However, Han Xiao was not worried in the slightest. The reason he decided to carry out his activities at the later stage was because he had set his sights far. He was no longer aiming for the smaller bases of the organization.

He wanted to do something big!

Han Xiao plan was simple and ‘loud’. He released all the information he had collected about the smaller bases to the six nations!

Crazy but deadly!

The six nations were old enemies of the organization. The moment they got their hands on the weakness of the organization, they would not rest until they caused grievous damage. As long as he dared to do such a crazy thing, the Germinal Organization was bound to suffer intense damage. However, that would also destabilize the entire situation on Planet Aquamarine. It was even likely for a change in the original storyline to occur.

It was that which made the whole process exciting.

To be scared of a change in the storyline was not the hallmark of a strong individual.

A world that did not change was something a destroyer like Han Xiao was fond of.

Han Xiao clenched his fists. He could feel gushes of energy flowing through his body and confidence emerging out of his chest.

I am no longer a weakling who is afraid of everything like when I first entered the planet. I have the ability to challenge and battle most people on this planet.

Strength formed the base of one’s power. To endure now was so that one could be powerful enough in the future, such that he no longer needed to endure.

Now, Han Xiao could defend himself, and he could finally accomplish the initial goal he set for himself!

Han Xiao connected his cellphone to the computer and created an anti-tracking application to disguise his actual number and address. He then dialed in a chain of numbers that he had memorized.

“Hello, who is this?”

Feng Jun’s voice emerged out of the cellphone.

“Guess~” Han Xiao teased.

Feng Jun almost choked. The sly voice was too familiar to not recognize.

“You… How dare you call back‽”

Feng Jun was dumbfounded.

In Division 13’s headquarters, Director Gu Hui and the Intelligence Minister stared at the phone on the desk, while Feng Jun stood to the side with a clear look of nervousness.

“Can we trace the location?”

The technician replied hesitantly, “We can’t break the opponent’s anti tracking protocol. He is a highly skilled hacker.”

Gu Hui’s vein throbbed with anger. When did that guy become a hacker? How could I not know?

After some deliberation, Gu Hui picked up the phone and said in a grave voice, “Han Xiao, you left Division 13 without permission. You violated the code of secrecy. This behavior is abominable!”

Han Xiao chuckled and laid bare Gu Hui’s thoughts. “You want to ask me when I’m coming back, right?”

“You should know better yourself!” Gu Hui said.

“I am not going back.”

“Are you defecting?” Gu Hui’s eyes darkened, and his tone changed.

“You misunderstood,” Han Xiao slowly said. “I still want to continue to work with you guys, but the way we work needs to change.”

Gu Hui frowned. “What do you mean?”

The others in the room pricked up their ears to wait for Han Xiao’s reply.

With a click, Han Xiao hung up the phone.

The intelligence minister was expressionless, but the twitch at the corner of his eyes revealed the storm in his mind.

Gu Hui took a deep breath and thought to himself, I am the director; I cannot flip the table. I am the director; I cannot flip the table…

Ding!

The phone vibrated with a new message notification.

Gu Hui narrowed his eyes and opened the text message. A page of dense information was thrown into his view. He was struck dumb by the content of the message.

It was all intelligence on Germinal’s bases in Southern Continent. It was very detailed and complete!

Is this what he meant by changing the way we work? Gu Hui was uncertain. Nonetheless, his anger with Han Xiao dissipated.

This was the intelligence they had always wanted, and Han Xiao had actually given it to them so easily.

He’s so sincere!

Gu Hui was lost in thought. Han Xiao had demonstrated unexpected sincerity. The issue would be how he should deal with Han Xiao’s identity. If he were to say that he was a defector, his action would benefit the interests of Stardragon. But to say that Han Xiao would be returning to Division 13 would be untrue. Han Xiao had personally said that he would not go back.

After some thought, Gu Hui made a decision.

“Stop searching for Han Xiao. Keep his official secret agent identity, and move his files to the field agent files.”

Feng Jun was taken aback. The director’s decision would mean that Division 13 was reconciling with Han Xiao. They would acquiesce to Han Xiao’s solitary behavior and regard him as one of their own.

Division 13 was in charge of the formation of field agents. Field agents were employed under the department, but they could move freely. Only some meritorious agent or retired agents could get such preferential treatment.

Although Feng Jun did not have a long relationship with Han Xiao, they were on good terms. Feng Jun was a happy; at least they would not become enemies.

With the information he needed in hand, Gu Hui was in a good mood. He praised the intelligence minister lightly and was about to leave when the bespectacled secretary in the intelligence group stumbled in, panting for breath.

“Director! Minster! The intelligence departments from Hesla, Maple, Ordina, Theus, and Raylen have all sent us a request for communication!”

The look in Gu Hui’s face hardened.

Only with truly urgent incidents would the intelligence agencies of each country contact another country. It had been many years since they had a meeting between the different intelligence agencies from the Six Nations. What had happened‽

With a heavy heart, Gu Hui walked to the conference room. Five individuals appeared on the big screen. They were the heads of the intelligence agencies from the other five nations. They had the same rank in their respective agencies as Gu Hui.

“What happened?” Asked Gu Hui.

As soon as he spoke, he found the five heads of intelligence agencies stare at him with a very strange look, making him feel a little confused.

The representative from Ordina took the initiative and said, “Um… Division 13 Director, you… do you know Germinal’s top wanted man, Zero?”

Gu Hui stared dumbfounded. He had a bad feeling.

“What happened was, all five of us received intelligence from Zero, including maps of Germinal’s secret bases across the South, West, and North Continent. We have always been cautious about information from unknown sources, but he had added a line to his intelligence.

” Stardragon’s Division 13 can testify as to the credibility of my intelligence.

“So, we are here to clarify with you.”

Damn you! How could you even send the information to all the other nations and expect us to testify for you! Han Xiao, you just scammed us again!

Gu Hui almost fainted from the shock. He could almost see Han Xiao’s sniggering face in his mind.

…

His set of equipment—the incomplete Phantom Ghost Sniper, Electromagnetic Skateboard Shoes, facial simulator, and a full version of a Magnetically-Controlled Retractable Armor—would be able to fully support his variable sniping style of combat. This was a tactic that was very popular among the older Mechanics. Since the equipment he produced had properties way beyond what would normally be at his level, it was obvious that his combat capability would be way more effective.

With his enhanced equipment, his energy was about 1,100 ouna. He was considered upper-middle rank on Aquamarine. In addition, Han Xiao also had the NPC Molding Ability [Basic Strengthened Life]. He was definitely able to take some hits.

[Flaming Will] was upgraded to Lv5, and the lowest multiplier was increased to 138%. Although this did not sound like much, with sneak attacks and critical strikes on weaknesses, even with the lowest enhancement, he could boost his capability significantly.

As long as he avoided fighting someone crazily powerful like Bennett head on, Han Xiao should be able to cope with most face-offs with ease. So, the assassination mission from the Blood Pact Society would naturally not be too much of a worry for him.

Time flew past as Han Xiao completed more and more missions. He gained vast amounts of Experience and wealth, and he was growing stronger day by day. Mr. Black was also becoming feared by more and more underground forces. He had risen to the tenth position on the assassin leader board. He was finally gaining some fame.

Meanwhile, the underground world gave Han Xiao a new nickname—Black Phantom!

One could only take on a bad code name, not a bad nickname.

_____________________

Planet Universal Reputation Legend (Aquamarine): Black Phantom (Dark Net Assassin List)

Legend has it that he comes from the darkness of the night with a thousand faces. No one knows when he will come. No one knows when he will leave.

When you see him turn away, the kiss of death has already been printed on your forehead, leaving fresh bullet holes in blood. He pays a bullet and takes away your life.

_____________________

He sounds pretty cool…

In fact, when he learned that he had been given the nickname, Han Xiao did not know how he should feel about it.

Black Phantom… Why don’t you call me White Yaksha?

Han Xiao had been one of the most active members in the underground world lately, and he was getting on the good books of the Blood Pact Society. They were even featuring him to attract talents. According to statistics from the Blood Pact Society, their business had finally stopped falling even since Black Phantom came around. Their business was even slightly on the rise, attracting other assassins to them. They were leading in transaction volume.

However, two months later, the attention of the whole world was on another big event!

As the last civilized countries on Aquamarine, the Six Nations were so powerful that whatever they did would affect every single person in the world. Be it the underground, rogue warlords, or various organizational forces, everyone was always looking to the Six Nations to observe their actions, especially in terms of their military operations.

After the wars of the old times, there was a delicate balance of order and chaos on Planet Aquamarine. Wars continued to break out occasionally, openly or hidden, and it was not in the Six Nations’ interest to cover up and pretend it was all peaceful.

The delicate world situation tipped on this fateful day after two months. The Six Nations sent out troops almost simultaneously. The armies were sweeping across the three continents, wiping out Germinal bases one by one. It shook the whole world.

The war came without any warning!

The world fell into a turmoil. Many was starting to fear that the nightmare of a terrible war that happened decades ago would explode again. Their wounds from the war had not healed fully, and no one was too eager to be devoured by such a manmade disaster again.

Even within the Six Nations, thousands and thousands of people took to the streets to protest against the war, but the governments have turned a deaf ear. To them, Germinal was the root of a disaster. As a terrorist organization that had been created to subvert the Six Nations, the conflict between the Six Nations and Germinal could be traced back to the war of the old times. Germinal had been gathering outlaws and rebels who were determined to subjugate the Six Nations.

Until now, the two sides had been caught in a stalemate. It was such a good opportunity to crack down on the Germinal Organization; how could they possibly miss it?

For those who were more informed, they were not as surprised by the tough stance of the Six Nations as the intelligence they had gotten—why did the Six Nations act simultaneously, and how could they launch precise attacks on the hiding grounds of Germinal?

There was only one possibility—someone had provided a large amount of intelligence!

In another way, this mysterious person providing the intelligence was the real puppet master behind the war!

After many inquiries, the name of the man was leaked out from within the Six Nations.

Zero!

Germinal’s traitor!

The underground world was shocked.

Among the outlaws taken in by the Germinal Organization, some were idealistic fighters while others were hooligans who had committed petty crimes. There were traitors in the past, but they had all hidden like street mice, afraid of being hunted down. Zero was the only person that had strike back on Germinal so openly, generating such chatter.

How did Zero get so much intelligence? Was he a high-level officer in Germinal before he defected?

Many were scratching their head over this.

All this was a mystery. There was no way anyone could get an answer, but that did not prevent all the major powers from adding the name ‘Zero’ to the threat list.

…

“A war is coming…”

Bennett looked up at the hazy sky with furrowed brows, his mood was as gloomy as the sky.

Wang Yuan whispered to him from the side, “It seems like we need to get the shelter plan up ahead of schedule.”

“There are still a lot of things left unprepared…” Bennett shook his head. “I guess we can never be fully prepared. Let’s roll out the shelter plan. Contact some allies and get strong independent fighters to join us. We must rally all our forces.”

In the Germinal Organization Headquarters at Andrea mainland…

BAM!

A fist covered with a black glove slammed against the wall, creating a sound like a steel rod being swung against a car window. The thick force made a large piece of the wall shatter and collapse, exposing the steel bars. His fist, however, was not injured.

The leader’s body trembled with fury. His anger was obvious. His subordinates trembled next to him and dared not move an inch.

All the secret bases on the other three continents were being swept through by the Six Nations’ armies, incurring huge losses every day. The Germinal Organization’s base camp was located on the continent of Andrea. The secret bases on the three other three continents were intended to be the beachheads to nail the enemy in future wars. So, the loss this time was equivalent to the organization’s painstaking efforts for many years being destroyed! It had severely wounded the organization.

“Zero…” The leader took a deep breath into the unfathomable depths of his lungs.

How much information does Han Xiao have? This was a question that the leader had always been suspicious about. He felt that Han Xiao was not in a position to be aware of key intelligence. He had once told the organization’s hackers to check the program loopholes repeatedly, and there were no signs of hacking. He had also conducted multiple investigations on the top management. There were no traitors.

Zero’s source of information was really too suspicious. It was as though he was a prophet.

In fact, the four bases that were lost, including the Dark Crow Valley base, were not of particular importance to the organization. Before the four secret bases were removed, the leader hesitated over whether or not to relocate other bases in Southern Continent, but he did not implement any action. It was not that he wanted to leave it to chance. He felt that moving other bases rashly would expose these locations and cause them to lose their secrecy. It was like abandoning the huge amount of up-front investment, wasting their finances and time. Perhaps, it was as Zero had mentioned, making a mountain out of a molehill.

However, the situation made it clear that Zero had mastered the detailed information of the organization, far more so than he had expected!

The Valkyrie experiment strengthens the brain, and awakens… Thinking of Han Xiao’s performance, the leader felt as if there was a hint to the truth.

Zero has awakened the ability to predict!

No wonder he could get intelligence, escape from the lab, and avoid the tracking of the organization…

The leader closed his eyes and anger brewed in his heart. He felt that this was the only possible explanation. Zero was a monster created by the Germinal Organization, and all the organization could do was accept it.

Regret? The leader did not allow himself to have this kind of emotion. There was no room for regret.

This kind of character is too dangerous. If he is allowed to live, all the actions of the organization will be made known.

He has to be killed!

The pin drop silence continued for three minutes.

The leader’s low, hoarse voice slowly sounded, and it spoke of deep savage intentions. Even though the Germinal Organization’s members in the room knew that the leader was not targeting them, it still sent a chill down their spine.

“Move all the bases in the three continents. There is no need to care about the loss and damage. Withdraw whatever can be withdrawn. Start the crisis plan [Hibernation Project], and all activity is to be moved underground. All intelligence personnel are to thoroughly investigate Zero’s tracks—not a single clue is to be neglected. Before we find Zero, the full-scale war plan is to be delayed… indefinitely!”

…

_____________________

[Fall of The Germinal] current progress 13.8%.

_____________________

At the Graymetal Base, Han Xiao lay on the sofa, sliding his fingers across the tablet and brushing through the information collected and organized on the Dark Net, almost all of which was related to the movements of the Six Nations.

Two months ago, he had provided intelligence to the Six Nations. Naturally, none of the Six Nations acted immediately. They first sent people to confirm the accuracy of the intelligence, then they secretly dispatched resources to prepare for the war. The military operation only became official two months later. The results were very gratifying. A large number of Germinal bases were removed. Yet, there were some secret bases that Han Xiao was not aware of. They were forces that had been preserved.

Han Xiao’s mission profile had increased exponentially. Although the increment was reduced, he was winning by volume. With the actions by the Six Nations, he was progressing every day. The Germinal Organization was not a pig that would stretch out its neck dumbly to be slashed. They were determined to preserve their last breath by any means. They had evacuated all remaining bases and were trying to minimize losses. This was within Han Xiao’s expectations. He was simply waiting to see how many battles the six countries could win next by chasing Germinal’s trails hard.

With the momentum now, my mission progress is estimated to be more than twenty percent.

About fifty percent of the Germinal Organization’s bases in the three continents had been conquered, whilst their base camp on the Andrea continent had only half its size left.

The morale of the Germinal Organization had been so badly hurt that it would not be able to declare war against the Six Nations in three months’ time as per the original scenario. This had a far-reaching impact.

One such impact was that the Germinal Organization’s sub-bases on the three continents had been removed, cutting off the channels for most players to join the organization. That meant that the players in Germinal’s camp would be ninety percent less than originally! In Han Xiao’s opinion, this was the biggest gain.

Taking advantage of the chaos, I can also personally intercept and kill countless disoriented troops and improve my mission progress.

Releasing information could only be done once, so Han Xiao was ready to make full use of this opportunity to strike against his enemy while it was at its weakest, hoping that his attacks would deal some serious damage and advance his level.

The small butterfly effect he had set off was rolling up into a storm, causing a huge mess in the quest between the Six Nations and the Germinal Organization. If one of the front-line events on Planet Aquamarine was accidentally annihilated, the players on this planet would become idle and start to freely explore.

Interesting… Han Xiao’s face broke into a sinister smile.

His two-month killer career had earned him a lot of Experience. He had already unlocked [Night Stalker], providing him skills such as [Stealth] and [Steady Aim]. This sub-professional upgrade bonus had a slant toward agility. With this, Han Xiao’s total level had reached LV 40, and he was stuck at his advancement.

The manner in which he completed his mission was a prerequisite for his next advancement.

_____________________

[Second Stage Advancement]: Defeat three strong enemies beyond your level.

Note: Your opponent must be at least five levels higher than you.

Current Progress: 0%.

_____________________

Defeating a higher-level opponent was a common requirement for class advancements. The difficulty was not high, and the player could compete in a team. This made it easier for Han Xiao. It was a pity that his previous such assassinations were not counted for his current task.

As his level increased, higher-level killing was becoming more and more difficult. With Han Xiao’s level, he had to kill opponents beyond LV 45 at the bare minimum to achieve the cross-level standard. Moreover, these LV 45 opponents were already in the third stage of Planet Aquamarine’s combat power, possessing ghostly powers.

Because he was stuck at advancement and could not upgrade to the next level, Han Xiao was putting all his Experience into developing his skills. He had managed to improve his combat sniping skills.

Before building a powerful machine that could become the core of his tactics, he was not going to change his strategy of using [Moving Snipe] for the time being. In addition, he had also incorporated new blueprints, improving his personal capability tremendously.

In addition to becoming a legend in the list of killers, Han Xiao had also unexpectedly become a legend for a different reason.

_____________________

The Legend of Planet Aquamarine: The Mysterious Zero

As a traitor of the Germinal Organization, you have uprooted the solid foundations of the organization based on your sole effort. No one expected such a course of events. You have already become the arch enemy of the Germinal Organization. Perhaps you should protect your identity as there are many people who are searching for you.

_____________________

The source of my legendary status comes from my intelligence that inflicted a great loss on the Germinal Organization and caused Planet Aquamarine to fall into a state of chaos. I think I figured out how to attain such legendary status. I guess I just have to disrupt the original quest of the camp, and that means to wreak havoc… I guess that is my strength. Han Xiao touched his chin in thought.

His relationship with the Germinal Organization had fallen to -3,000. He was becoming their arch enemy; the relationship was unsalvageable.

This hatred is really deep-seated.

Han Xiao furrowed his brows.

On the other hand, the Graymetal Base was also becoming better-equipped. Han Xiao had upgraded the energy source on the base. There were already eight assistant robots working hard. It was a stable source of Experience. The cost of manufacturing each assistant robot was about 200,000 Experience.

Mechanics could create assistant-type robots, but few people did it in the early days because it was not cost-effective. These robots cost hundreds of thousands of Experience to develop, but they would only provide a few thousand XP each day. One could easily attain that by completing simple tasks. Moreover, these low-level intelligence robot assistants could only complete simple manufacturing tasks. If spare parts were needed, players could directly purchase them from the player market. Even unions were unwilling to use the assistant robot in their early stages. They had their production team and were in no shortage of manpower.

Only when the mechanics learned how to manufacture intermediate-level smart chips to enable robots to perform more precise operations would these robot assistants gradually become the standard tools for mechanics.

But for Han Xiao, money was not that important. He took a brief look at his dark net account and a bunch of zeros leaped into his eyes. All these were rewards that he had collected from completing various assassinations. Well, it seemed that there were some orders from Division 13. He had almost forgotten.

Han Xiao looked at the interface, and it was the last thirty minutes before the public beta.

This day has finally arrived!

Over the past year, he had accumulated a huge amount of capital, way more than most.

Han Xiao’s eyes were beaming as he nestled in the sofa, waiting silently.

The public beta countdown was counting down to the last minute.

Looking at the time—Galaxy calendar, July 3, 688.

Countdown!

Ten, nine, eight… three, two, one!

_____________________

The public beta is now open.

Fetching data… Fetching data done!

Player Forum Open

Open beta duration: 1271 days

Welcome to Galaxy 1.0—Adventer!

Ever since Galaxy was in the research and development stage, the game had received wide attention with minimal marketing. Only basic information was provided on the official website. Even so, its popularity was continuously rising. Due to the many groundless rumors, Galaxy was shrouded with an air of mystery, fueling the players’ anticipation and curiosity.

On the day of public beta, the enthusiasm of the players was exploding like the eruption of a volcano. Although the number of VR capsules in the first batch was limited and there was also a restriction on the number of purchases, the game was sold out in half an hour. Those who did not manage to grab hold of the game were utterly disappointed, whereas those who did get it could not wait to enter the game.

…

The day that the game was released, enthusiastic players rushed into the game. In Galaxy, there were dozens of players who came from different birthplaces, and this formed the first batch of players.

In the evening, more and more public beta players who had created their characters appeared out of thin air in the forest outside the settlement of Big Horn Village, looking around curiously.

“It feels so real!” exclaimed a player as he jumped around with ease.

“Quick! Look at the sky, there is actually more than one moon!” a player shouted out in excitement as he admired the scenery.

“Woah, can I take off my pants?” asked a muddle-headed player.

“Is there no novice village in this game?” Another player scratched his head, not knowing what to do.

As more and more players appeared, a huge crowd began to form. With more than a thousand people gathered, one could hardly see an end to the mass of players. There were thousands of players who had gathered. After some confusion, some observant players spotted the lights in the distance from Big Horn Village. Thinking that it was the novice village, the players rushed over en masse.

The guards at the settlement of Big Horn Village were shocked to see the group of ragged men and immediately blew the whistle to inform the rest of the population to lock their doors and stop this huge group of foreigners from entering their settlement.

The players were all stopped at the gate, and they started shouting out against the guards.

“What is going on? Why isn’t the novice village open?”

“My hunger level is dropping; I will die if I don’t eat something.”

“The expressions of these NPCs are so lively.”

Within the settlement of Big Horn Village, all the residents walked out of their house holding torches and weapons, and stood guarding the main door solemnly, preventing the mass of people from attacking the place. The village chief, Xander, gathered the few key personnel urgently.

“Where did this group of people come from? It’s almost 10,000 people!” Xander exclaimed.

“Is it a group of migratory vagrants?”

“Let’s just ask directly.”

Xander climbed to the watchtower and asked loudly as he looked down at the huge crowd of players, “Friends from afar, why have you come to us?”

The players looked at one another with confused faces, not knowing how to respond.

Xander then shook his head. “If you all do not state where you are from, I cannot let you enter the settlement.”

The public beta players were baffled. They were all new players who could not even understand the map. How would they be able to tell him their origin? Was that a joke?

Inside the settlement, the closed beta players found the whole situation amusing. It was like a show for them as they watched the situation unfold from the side. They had landed directly inside the settlement when they first arrived and did not have to go through the trouble that the public beta players who had landed outside the settlement had to face now.

Just then, they received a notification. It was a mission where they had to convince Xander to allow the public beta players to enter the settlement, and the prize was rather significant. There was a note that specified they had to make sure that their use of words would match the current game context.

“Interesting, there are no other games like this.”

The players inside the settlement were surprised by the creativity in this game. They could actually use their convincing skills to influence the NPC in this game. That was new to them.

After a few discussions, the closed beta players went up to Xander to start a discussion.

After what seemed like a long time, Xander finally understood. “Do you all know the group of people outside?”

One of the closed beta players answered with a straight face. “Yes, we used to be residents in the same settlement, called Earth Village. There was a disaster, and we lost all contact. This group of people outside are all as hardworking as us. Chief Xander, please accept them.”

“Earth Village? Why haven’t I heard of this settlement?” After some thought, Xander seemed slightly convinced. “There are too many of them. It is impossible to accept all of them.”

“That is simple. All they need is a job, some food, and basic supplies. You can think of them as cheap labor, and it is also an opportunity to expand the settlement.”

The closed beta players snickered, as they could not wait for the public players to be scammed.

Xander’s eyes lit up. “You are right.”

Soon enough, Xander explained the situation to the public beta players, and they all received a task each.

_____________________

[The First Job]: You should earn some money through labor. Do not let yourself starve to death. Try to build a better relationship with our settlement so that you can be trusted.

_____________________

With guidance, the public beta players started their tasks. Residents of Big Horn Village settlement eagerly provided different job opportunities, and the merchants also opened up their stores to the players, allowing them to use their own money to buy some food.

With a clear goal to work toward, the public beta players started to have a good impression of Big Horn Village. The public beta players formed a ring of tents on the boundary of the settlement, adding on to the construction of the settlement.

The same scene was happening for the newcomers at other settlements on Planet Aquamarine.

On the first day of the public beta, all the players were very excited, and they soon found out that there were camera and video functions, which added on to their excitement. The number of posts on social media exploded with players posting about the most miniscule of events. The following were some of the posts.

“Poor review! How can there be no excretion function!” The owner of this post obvious had ulterior motives, and he was obviously not really complaining about excretion.

“Taking on an alien body is so fun.” Another post showed a picture of a Taurus male player shaking his tail.

“Almost got killed by a wild boar. It’s so fun!” The post showed a picture of a female player making a peace sign with a wild boar chasing right behind her.

…

On the first day of the launch of the public beta, millions of players joined the game, and they were assigned to different planets, with at least around 100,000 players on each planet. As the news spread, the numbers rose at a rapid rate. With the next half a year, the numbers would likely snowball into tens of millions.

The public beta players were overjoyed with the game while some of the closed beta players were not having it so well.

…

In Dark Crow Valley, Jupiter and the other members of the guild looked at their surrounding forests with a blank look.

All around them, the woods were green, the evening wind lightly caressed their skin, and the calm atmosphere was like a gentle palm, warming their hearts and making everything seem so harmonious.

The view was amazing and pleasing to the eye.

But where did the base go‽

Jupiter hesitated before he asked, “The place we are going to… should be the base, right?”

Everyone nodded in unison.

“There is no longer a connection with the camp!” Poseidon exclaimed.

Everyone then checked their interface and realized that their original [Dark Crow Valley Base Connection] was gone! Everyone was flabbergasted.

What is this situation‽

“Quick! Check the tasks!”

Waking up from the trance, Jupiter checked his interface immediately, before heaving a sigh of relief.

“Fortunately, the mission is still there. Oh sh*t!”

In the next moment, everyone was shocked.

_____________________

[Search for Zero (Level A)]: Zero, a mysterious traitor. He has caused the organization to suffer many losses. Find Zero, and you will become a great friend to the organization.

_____________________

The level of difficulty had changed from B to A!

The task instructions had also changed; the location of Zero was no longer required as it was like finding a needle in a haystack. The Guild of Gods had made a lot of preparations, and the results of the discussion could fill up an entire blackboard. This change had caused all the preparation in the past few days to go to waste.

“What have we missed‽”

Jupiter then thought of the official introduction of Galaxy and lost his voice.

“Don’t tell me Zero is the main character on this planet!”

The golden rays of dawn were shining in the sky. It was a cool and refreshing morning.

Whilst driving a truck, Han Xiao made his way toward Big Horn Mountain. He had based his directions off a radar. Despite him driving all night, he was not tired at all. In fact, he was alert as he had pulled over to nap the night before.

The public beta had started a few days ago, yet the forum was already buzzing with comments. Han Xiao specially took notice of Planet Aquamarine’s forum, and through the tags of the players, he managed to understand the situation of each and every newcomer. He had always wanted to join in the commotion.

The best chance to interact was when the players made their first appearance.

Just a few days back, Han Xiao had used his authority to obtain a tip-off from the dark web—there was a batch of newcomers in Big Horn Village. Hence, Han Xiao decided to advance toward Big Horn Village to get rid of them.

In the distance from Big Horn Village, one could see the silhouette of the settlements. Han Xiao could tell with one glance that the settlement was filled with countless tents, just like a refugee camp. A swarm of players could also be seen busy bustling about.

The moment Han Xiao parked his truck, he caught the attention of the players.

With a cigarette dangling from his lips, Han Xiao got out from his truck and leaned against it while puffing out a cloud of smoke. He put on an air of arrogance, misleading the players to think that he was an important character.

A deep understanding of players’ mentality was Han Xiao’s specialty. He had analyzed the situation. With the new game being released, all the players were thrilled. No matter what kind of tasks were given to them, they were all willing to try. This was known as the ‘hunger’ stage, and since there was an overwhelming number of new players, there would definitely be a few players who could not obtain any missions.

Therefore, Han Xiao knew that as an ‘advanced player’ character, he was influential. All he had to do was appear in front of the players, and he could definitely rile up the players. The players were all new and did not have skills yet. However, he could benefit from their large number. Han Xiao also happened to have a way to reap benefits from these newcomers, and he could take this opportunity to further test the functions on the NPC interface.

In Han Xiao’s eyes, the players who were walking about resembled walking wallets.

After a while, the players were finally starting to get curious and some walked over.

_____________________

Black Phantom – Unknown (Yellow Name)

Rank: Unknown

Attributes: Unknown

Risk Level: Extremely deadly

_____________________

“What the heck? This is a high-level NPC!”

“This is the first time that I’ve seen one.”

“Why is there such a high-level player in a novice village? Is he the Boss?”

“Doesn’t seem like it though. It looks like we can trigger a mission.”

The surrounding players were full of astonishment and were hesitating whether they should approach Han Xiao.

Han Xiao raised an eyebrow—he was now at LV 40, which was thirty levels higher than all the other players. This time around, he was fully aware of the players’ abilities. Hence, he cleared his throat and said, “You all seemed to be a capable bunch of people, and I do need some help at the moment.”

After making his statement, Han Xiao sent out the missions that he had prepared earlier on.

The dozen players received their missions.

_____________________

[Mysterious Stranger]: You have encountered a mysterious NPC, and he seems to have some work for you. Try to please him as much as possible, and you might receive unexpected surprises.

_____________________

The mission was to collect a plant known as ‘Snake Venom’. These players realized that the reward given was more generous than the novice tasks that they had received in Big Horn Village. It was reaching up to a thousand Experience. Thus, the players received their missions excitedly.

Snake Venom was a relatively common plant. This plant could be collected near Big Horn Village, and it was also sold in the settlement to make poisoned arrows.

At this moment, many players could not afford firearms; instead, they used cold weapons. Han Xiao set up this mission for the sole purpose of experimenting as well as to allow his subsequent activities to not be suspected.

_____________________

The limit of my missions now is much higher than before; it has reached D-level.

_____________________

With that thought in mind, Han Xiao opened the interface, and the detailed numbers appeared.

_____________________

Highest reward limit: 36,940

Level 40: +12000 (Advancement Level Limit +300)

Rank D: +10,000

Camps:

– Germinal (Enemy): -3,000

– Division 13 (Friendly): 2,130

– Blood Pact Society (Respect): 3,950

– The Rothschild Family (Friendly): 1,300

– Farian Company (Friendly): 1,200

Universal Reputation:

– Black Phantom (Aquamarine) +5%

– Mysterious Zero (Aquamarine) +5%

_____________________

The bonuses from his Universal Reputation was a ten percent on his current limit. Different regions had different Universal Reputation bonuses, but usually, the bonus from one Universal Reputation was 5%. In addition, the bigger the area, the higher the bonus.

The main objective of the Universal Reputation was for the daily limit; one Universal Reputation resulted in double the limit, and originally, his limit was a five times addition. Now, it was at seven times the original limit, nearing 26,000 experience points.

The players who had not received any missions huddled together and were quietly discussing among themselves while looking at Han Xiao curiously.

“This is the high-level NPC? It feels like he’s no different from us!”

“Black Phantom does sound very old-fashioned.”

“I wonder which profession he is from.”

It might not have been mentioned before, but most of public players’ profession was Esper!

The other four schools of players required basic knowledge to change their profession, but Esper was capable of many things. Of course, even though their abilities were strange, none of the players had the ability to use them. Espers required a huge amount of energy, and it was dependent on the players’ current levels. They were simply unable to use their powers and hence appeared very weak. The players were at most able to exert their power for around ten seconds, which meant that the players were weak and vulnerable.

Not long after, the players who had completed their mission were returning with a bunch of Snake Venom. Their faces were filled with excitement.

Once Han Xiao realized that there were enough onlookers, his eyes flashed. “I will stay here for a few days. I can provide some weapons for you should you need them.”

Han Xiao then opened the window containing goods that he could sell to the players. He had only set up a few types of weapons: Foldable Machete, ordinary pistols, and submachine guns. He did not sell other machinery as he knew that the novice players did not have that much money, but he was selling many types of ammunition and special ammunition.

However, Han Xiao also had a powerful setup called ‘Lightweight Mechanical Arm’, the price of which was so steep that the players were unable to afford. It was actually bait that was as effective as hanging a carrot in front of a donkey.

Offering the Lightweight Mechanical Arm meant nothing to him as it was useless to him because of two main reasons. Firstly, the equipment did not match his capability, and secondly, it was not a rare product to begin with. It was just introductory machinery, and since it would be developed by other mechanics in the future, it was better to release this machinery now to earn short-term profit.

One issue was that the Foldable Machete and Lightweight Mechanical Arm that Han Xiao had created in Stardragon seemed to have a risk of being exposed, but Han Xiao was not too concerned as Stardragon and him were not enemies. Furthermore, his own whereabouts were erratic. Even if his identify was known, it did not matter as the circulation of information between the players and the organizations was very slow.

Hence, his sale of this machinery in a short period of time would not pose any problem. The profits from the players’ market was too awesome for him to give up, whereas in the future…

Once I’m stronger, there will be absolutely no need to continue hiding my identity.

Not to mention Han Xiao’s psychological activities, but all the players who saw the equipment put out for sale were shocked!

“This is the mysterious businessman!”

“Lightweight Mechanical Arm! Oh my God, this is an artifact!”

“This machinery costs 20,000 dollars! This is way too expensive; who can even afford it? Besides, it requires twenty-five points of strength to use it; I think you would need to be LV 10 at least to reach this attribute.”

“Those firearms are cheap though. They only cost 1,500 dollars for one!”

The player then called their friends and flocked over, eager to have a look. Han Xiao was surrounded by them in an instant.

The novice players were attracted to the firearms like a moth to a flame. Since they are using cold weapons now, it would require a dozen people to even defeat a weak beast. Not only were Big Horn Village’s firearms expensive, they needed money for the ammunition too. The novice players simply could not afford it.

The cost of Han Xiao making a pistol was only about 800 Aqua coins, and the selling price was twice the cost price. He was considered kind because his price was affordable; he doubted that anyone could find a cheaper pistol than his. Furthermore, Han Xiao’s pistols were of great quality. It was not as if he was trying to cheat the players’ money by offering inferior quality pistols.

Because there were limited firearms, the players rushed to make a purchase. Those who managed to get their hands on the guns were exhilarated, while those who did not manage to get one were disappointed.

The closed beta players had also squeezed in with the crowd. SliceYouUp, who had killed the world guild’s leader, bought a pistol from Han Xiao and realized that the quality was much better than the gun sold in Big Horn Village. How regretful he was! Had he known earlier, he would not have bought his weapons from Big Horn Village.

Having sold all his weapons in the truck, Han Xiao earned thirty thousand dollars in that short period of time. Yes, the players’ funds were limited, but there were at least ten thousand of players in Big Horn Village, which meant the combined purchases were earning Han Xiao big bucks. After selling the firearms, Han Xiao could use the cargo compartment in the truck to manufacture new firearms and ammunition.

The real profits from selling firearms were the sales from ammunition. Having bought the firearms, the players would have to buy ammunition as well. This was known as bundled sales, where one product generated the demand of the other because they had to be bought together. This was also what Han Xiao had realized previously when he had bought instant noodles without the seasoning from the shop downstairs.

The players loved their newly bought guns so much that they refused to put them down. Some were shooting at trees faraway; the recoil strength was so strong that the players’ wrists shook, and the bullets flew aimlessly.

Those who had no shooting skills were unable to unleash the gun’s power fully. A lot of the players realized they had this problem, and their excitement slowly turned to distress.

This was what Han Xiao had been anticipating. Now he could offer his after sales service!

Han Xiao smiled to himself and set up a window for shooting lessons. This time round, he did not announce it to the players. He set it in a way that to learn from him, the players would have to have a reputation of five points.

The players discovered this service almost immediately.

“We can actually learn skills from Black Phantom!”

“Oh my, there are so many abilities to learn.”

“We need five reputation points to learn though. How do we increase our reputation?”

“I just discovered how; for every 500 dollars spent, your reputation with Black Phantom will increase by one!”

“It is still too expensive!”

The players only had a thousand dollars with them now, and they had accumulated this from completing missions. Han Xiao had a deep understanding of their financial status as he was, after all, once a novice player. This move was to enable the players to feel that learning a skill was not easy.

Humans are as such; they would not appreciate things that were given easily. Only when they are unable to obtain something instantly would they feel the need to upgrade themselves to get what they desired. In this case, once an ordinary player and a character developed a good relationship, it would also increase their reputation with the NPC. Of course, Master Han’s main purpose was to also rake in a large sum of money from the players.

If I don’t earn the players’ hard-earned money, am I still human?

To continuously create demand from his customers and force them to buy products was a tactic used by businessmen. Han Xiao touched his chin and mused, Oh if only I had gone into business instead.

The players were hesitant, but Han Xiao was not at all worried. There would be someone who eventually decided to start eating the crab first.

Just as he expected, a cute girl with the ID ‘Maple Moon’ finally decided to do it. After she spent enough money in the shop, Han Xiao immediately raised the reputation of this player by five points. After which, he suddenly realized that Maple Moon… was someone familiar.

Maple Moon was shocked as she looked at the list of skills that could be learned.

“I can actually learn the basic knowledge required for class advancement!”

The moment she said those words, players began to chatter, and their level of excitement went through the roof.

Besides tycoons and those who were willing to spend a lot of cash in this game, most of the ordinary players had experienced problems with advancing as they still did not know to obtain the basic knowledge required. This mysterious NPC Black Phantom was willing to sell basic knowledge.

Players who were initially hesitant instantly made up their minds and were determined to raise their reputation with Black Phantom to five points. They were not willing to let such a good opportunity slip by.

_____________________

You have taught [Basic Assembly]. You have obtained 1,000 Experience and 200 Aquamarine Dollars.

_____________________

Indeed, compared to the beta testing phase, Han Xiao doubled the price of the basic knowledge, yet players were still highly enthusiastic to learn it. Although he would only gain 1,000 Experience every time the knowledge had been learned, the total amount would accumulate quickly with so many players here wanting to get the knowledge.

Originally, for Aquamarine players to advance, the most common way was to join a camp. It was rare for players to obtain the basic knowledge before joining a camp. By joining a camp and performing quests to get connections, players would be able to exchange their reputation points for basic knowledge. Of course, players could choose to purchase with cash, but it was not worth it. Han Xiao’s action had saved many players from this trouble, and at the same time, it quickened their progress.

In a short while, hundreds of players had learned the basic knowledge. This meant that Han Xiao obtained hundreds of thousands of experience points. This number was still quickly climbing.

With his business booming, Han Xiao was like Jiang Taigong ¹ ], calmly waiting for fish to fall for the bait.

While entertaining the players, he was casually scrolling through the forum.

All the players from the new planets were sharing this information. Players from Big Horn Village were all enthusiastically advertising Han Xiao on the forum. He was the first high-ranking character in all the new planets that ever appeared in the Novice Villages; therefore, he quickly gained popularity. Many posts about him kept being bumped up in the forum.

“This high-ranking character sells inexpensive firearms and ammunition with excellent quality. Basic knowledge can be learned from him if the reputation is raised to at least 5 points. Other than common skills like Basic Shooting and other basic combat skills, a lot of mechanical knowledge can also be learned. Mechanic players can immediately go for their class advancement by learning the basic knowledge from him.”

“Woah. I haven’t seen such a high-ranked character before.”

“Even class advancement knowledge can be learned! Big Horn Village? I’ll go over right now!”

“Damn, I’m on another planet; I can’t go over at all.”

“Why has such a high-ranked character not been seen anywhere else?”

“Danger Level: Fatal? Any brave souls want to test out his power? If you die, I will pay you. I am not that rich, so I can only give an airplane for compensation.”

Many posts were also accompanied by images. The appearance of Han Xiao, who was in black, achieved a huge on-screen success. Many people were greatly impressed by his outfit, which included a black windbreaker and a pair of black gloves. He appeared both cool and handsome, and as long as his face was not shown, he could definitely be a male model.

Even players from the other beginner planets were discussing his combat strength enthusiastically. The forum had an automatic translation function, so there was no need to worry about language barriers.

Players are really interested in the combat power of this high-ranked character… An idea suddenly ran through Han Xiao’s mind, and he thought that if he could show off his skills, he might be able to attract more people to advance as mechanics.

Even though he was willing to share his basic knowledge, many people were still on the fence. After all, there were quite a few players that were not really interested in the path of a mechanic and were doubtful about their combat strength. Naturally, Pugilist and Esper were more fun to play, and therefore, more appealing to most players.

Indeed, they were right in their suspicion. Mechanics were not as strong in the earlier stages. However, this rule did not apply to Han Xiao. He smirked and decided to mislead the players. He understood the psychology of these players too well and knew that many would simply join whichever class they thought was the most powerful.

To Han Xiao, teaching the basic knowledge was an excellent way of earning profits. There were already hundreds of players who had acquired the mechanic’s basic knowledge. If he was able to trick half of the players from Big Horn Village into becoming mechanics, then he would easily obtain millions of Experience.

The profit in this market would be almost unbelievable!

Han Xiao was exuberant.

Just in time. The troops from the Germinal Organization will be arriving in a few days. This is a good time to carry out the plan.

…

In the Western Capital, Frenzied Sword felt exasperated. In the last few days, he had no appetite for anything. Days without Han Xiao were like a day without sunshine—each passing day was torture.

As Frenzied Sword randomly scrolled through the forum, he came across a bunch of posts by the players from Big Horn Village. The posts were about Han Xiao and the goods that he was selling.

“Lightweight Mechanical Arm‽”

With a look of pleasant surprise, Frenzied Sword stood up suddenly.

He remembered that Han Xiao had previously exhibited this Mechanical Arm. Han Xiao was, too, always wearing a mask. As such, Frenzied Sword hazarded a guess.

Could Black Phantom be Han Xiao?

I have to find him!

…

In order to raise the reputation with Han Xiao to more than five points, many players had moved to the assembly point at Big Horn Village to do the quests and earn money. As such, the number of players surrounding Han Xiao increased significantly.

_____________________

Your product [Lightweight Mechanical Arm] has been sold!

_____________________

Han Xiao was shocked.

He had previously set the high price of 20,000 for this item, yet someone was able to afford it. He surveyed the surrounding players and found their leader. His ID was ‘Jade Green Sky’. The moment Han Xiao saw this name, he was immediately enlightened. Jade Green Sky was the chairperson of a guild named ‘Sky Territory’, and with the wealth of the guild, he would naturally be able to afford the item.

Jade Green Sky was wearing a set of hand-sewn leather armor, and his equipment was at least a grade better than the open-beta players. That was because he was a close-beta test player. During close-beta testing, he had brought some of the core members with him to explore the other places on the map. Through the mouths of the other open-beta players from his guild, he learned about Black Phantom, and he quickly brought the core members back to the village.

Even though Jade Green Sky had yet to advance in his class, he was preparing to be a Pugilist. He was immediately drawn to the stats of the lightweight mechanical arm. Although he was unable to equip the item as of now, he decided to purchase it first and keep it in his storage, just in case Black Phantom disappeared suddenly and the opportunity was lost.

“There are quite a lot of good items.” Members of the Sky Territory guild muttered praise as they browsed through the list of items.

Unfortunately, in order to raise the reputation to five points, each member of the guild would have to spend 2,500 dollars. Despite being a large guild, the money that Sky Territory had was limited. The purchase of the lightweight mechanical had used up the majority of the guild’s cash.

Out of a blue, Han Xiao spoke. “There will be a troop from the Germinal Organization passing by here in a few days, and I need some people to help me set up the traps in the forest. Are you free to do so?”

With that, he set a quest and released it.

E-Level difficulty. The description was “Set up any kind of trap in the forest, and you will gain 500 Experience.” Additionally, Han Xiao offered three reputation points as part of the reward, just what the Sky Territory guild wanted.

Jade Green Sky responded decisively. “Everyone, accept this task!”

Han Xiao smiled to himself silently. By luring players to complete his quest using reputation points, he could both complete his quest and gain more business. It was killing two birds with one stone.

He could arbitrarily attribute the reputation points with a certain value. This method was like the theory behind paper currency, whereby something was made to appear valuable, but in actual fact, it was worthless. This could be effective in attracting the Sky Territory guild, Destroyer guild… any guild’s players into picking up the quest.

Han Xiao had always felt that the currency system was built on a bubble. With this thought in mind, he would spend any cash he earned.

Unspent money could become a hindrance to one’s motivation to work!

Most of the players went into the forest to set up traps. The traps that they could use were the more elementary ones—they were monster traps. Han Xiao took some time off and visited the forest. The forest was so full of traps that anyone with claustrophobia would have been triggered and covered with goosebumps instantly.

The retreating troops from the Germinal Organization would definitely be horrified when they entered the forest.

The monster traps that the players had set were very much useless and were mainly to attract attention. Han Xiao set up some other traps by himself, and those traps were the ones that would be the deadliest.

There were four continents on Planet Aquamarine and many more assembly points for novice players. There was a perennial stream of new players joining the open beta, so the total number of players kept increasing. However, compared to the entire population of the planet, it was still an insignificant number.

The players were all doing beginner quests and advancing slowly. They mostly camped in the areas around the novice villages. The players in Big Horn Village had been envied by many since they encountered a high-rank character, Han Xiao, who could teach them basic knowledge, whereas the players in other novice villages could only advance slowly through grinding for the secondary class.

Generally, players could be divided into three types: casual players, studio players, and professional esports players.

On the forum, there was a live broadcast. A godly player from the Deluxe Sanctuary Club, who was ranked 2nd in the country’s esports field and 21st in the world, had officially announced that he would join Galaxy! His ID was Song.

The number of viewers had already reached millions, and yet, it was still rising rapidly!

“Song, may I ask if your work from now on would be entirely focused on Galaxy?”

“May I know why you only chose to join the during the open-beta phase?”

“May I know…”

Even when he was bombarded by questions from reporters, Song remained calm and charismatic, and he answered each and every question elegantly. He was a handsome young man who always wore a mesmerizing smile. Due to his excellent skills and dashing looks, Song had gained a huge fan base.

“Galaxy is the game of the century with unparalleled potential. It has countless possibilities, vast maps, and an incredible amount of freedom. From my personal point of view, I believe that Galaxy will become a phenomenal game. The World E-sports Association has already begun to prepare the first league for Galaxy, and it will be on a world-wide scale. Not only me, but all Chinese players will participate in this grand event to compete with players from America, France, Korea, and other great esports countries, aiming to win glory for our country.

“Yesterday, major America guilds like Key, Devil, and Thunder Snake also announced their entry into Galaxy. They chose the in-game planet with the greatest potential, Planet Winterfrost, to be their base camp. They will become tough opponents in the future. Our guild also contacted major e-sports clubs such as Long Sky and Thunder Storm to invite them to join the game. We, as a nation, will definitely not lag behind in this game!”

“Do you have any comments on the issue where your old nemesis, Lost Angel, claimed that he is going to defeat you in Galaxy?” one reporter asked.

Song chuckled before he spoke with a strong sense of self-confidence. “I will never be afraid of any enemy. I will be the best in Galaxy and lead the Chinese players to defeat every player from other countries!”

This conference was like a signal that hinted the rise of Galaxy. Its influence soared immediately after the conference. The entire esports field roared, and countless professional players announced their plans to enter the game.

With the arrangement of their respective clubs, players such as Sleepy Winter, Twinkle Fried Rice, and Rainy Kim, who joined the game during the close-beta phase, also held a press conference. This further fanned the enthusiasm in the e-sports field. The topic of the game became more and more popular, and the activity in the game forum was at a phenomenal level! Countess players were also looking forward to the sales of the second batch of VR capsules.

Just as the popularity of the game soared, Galaxy released its first official trailer. The trailer showed the different landscapes of the novice planets as if it was a documentary film. The different styles and appearances of the planets, coupled with magic and technology from both ancient times and the future, attracted countless eyes. This trailer was made from the collection of closed-beta players’ clips, and they were all recorded from their point of view.

This trailer introduced the background and the environment of the world of Galaxy through moving images. Soon, Galaxy would release other similar publicity videos to introduce other aspects of Galaxy. They announced that the next video would show the battle scenes of different classes, giving players a greater insight into the variations of different classes and their fighting styles. Many were eager to watch this video.

The activity level of the forum was constantly through the roof, and Han Xiao kept an eye on the trends on the forum. Seeing the IDs of many professional players whom he had previously battled in his last life, Han Xiao felt a little emotional. He could still remember the times in his past life when he was an enthusiastic new player in the game. After many years, he had become a highly-experienced professional power leveler in the game, and then he was transmigrated. Things had changed so much for him—indeed, reality was more dramatic than a novel.

In his last life, he had been among the players who bought the second batch of VR capsules. Han Xiao was curious if there was another version of him in this world, which was why he always paid attention to the forum for any evidence of it.

Han Xiao had stayed at Big Horn Village for the last past few days, and during this time, there had been old players constantly visiting the village and new players been born here.

A group of curious new players who had just arrived gathered outside Big Horn Village. Their faces were full of curiosity. “This is the novice village, right?”

A player with a pistol around his waist walked past, and he immediately caught the attention of those new players.

“Bro, where did you buy that gun?”

“Oh, you must be newbies. You asked the right guy for this. A word of advice: never head to Big Horn Village to purchase a gun. Go straight west. There is a high-ranking character called Black Phantom who not only sells guns at a really affordable price but can also help you with class advancements,” the player with the pistol said.

“Really? Let’s go take a look now!” the newbies exclaimed as their eyes lit brightly.

“Go on, do not forget to thank me.” The player with the pistol had a look of pride plastered on his face.

More and more players came to find Han Xiao the moment they arrived in the game before heading to Big Horn Village to receive quests. They then used all their hard-earned money from the quests to buy more items from Han Xiao to earn reputation points. They were just like hard working bees, promptly supplying Han Xiao with a large amount of money.

In just a few days, Han Xiao had earned more than 500,000 Aquamarine Dollars and close to a million Experience—such efficiency was unparalleled. It was also a much safer and more convenient way for him compared to earning money and Experience by doing quests himself.

The players now are all only newbies. Now is the best time to exploit them.

The features of an NPC offered him a tremendous advantage when facing players, but Han Xiao knew there was a prerequisite to extracting profits from them—he had to be ahead of players in all areas of advancement.

Although the current situation is really good, I cannot relax and stagnate, Han Xiao thought to himself as he took a puff of his cigarette.

Among the players in Big Horn Village, around twenty percent had chosen to switch to become mechanics while the other players were still on the fence. Only by showing off the combat strength of a mechanic would the other players start to budge.

Han Xiao glanced at the computer and read the intelligence passed from the Dark Net about the Germinal Organization. The retreating troops would be passing by Big Horn Village this afternoon.

As he was in the process of thinking, he heard a female voice.

“Black Phantom, why do you want to be enemy with the Germinal Organization?”

Han Xiao turned his head and saw a petite young female player. She was below his chin and had delicate short hair and watery eyes full of curiosity. Her face was just like an apple, which made people want to poke her cheeks. Her ID was ‘Maple Moon’. She was the first female player who learned skills from him.

I can’t believe we’ve met again… Han Xiao raised his eyebrow as old memories started appearing in his head.

Maple Moon, one of the Mechanic representatives in the third Season, was originally a casual player. She became extraordinary in the third season competition and was then signed by a club to become a professional player.

In his past life, it was revealed on the forum that Maple Moon liked to dig into hidden story plots, and all the benefits she gained from doing so accumulated and compounded until the third season where it was advantageous for a mechanic. It was only then that she really showed her true combat prowess.

Han Xiao blinked and had a new idea.

Players like this seem to be able to…

Based on the quests that Han Xiao assigned to the players, Maple Moon had guessed that Han Xiao and the Germinal Organization were enemies. Most players would just want to complete the task and get it over with, so they would not even bother with understanding any background information about the quest. However, Maple Moon enjoyed exploring the story plot and became curious about the background story of Han Xiao. Black Phantom—this name made her think of all sorts of assassins and stories of vengeance. She believed that there was something she could dig further into.

She is the first player to interact with me outside of assigning quests and selling equipment. Han Xiao’s eyes lit up.

Han Xiao pondered about his relationship with the players and concluded that they were not enemies—except for the players who took on missions that targeted him. He was able to not only extract profits from players but also train players with potential and let them become his allies. By exchanging help and resources, he could make these players willingly fight alongside him.

As the players could resurrect, it was somewhat unfavorable to Han Xiao. However, looking from another perspective, it also meant that the players were best used as fighters and cannon fodder. Although most players did not have principles, and therefore, using players in such a manner could be rather chaotic, Han Xiao was clear about the players’ psychology and what motivated them. As long as he manipulated them properly, he could control the players’ actions to a certain extent. If he made good use of this strategy, he could gain a huge advantage when fighting against NPC forces—the advantage could be as big as his advantage when interacting with players!

What’s this called again—two-timing?

Nah, it should be called focusing on both sides!

A flash of thoughts sprinted through Han Xiao’s mind as he glanced at her. He then suddenly walked up to the vehicle. Maple Moon was startled momentarily before she followed.

The vehicle storage compartment was a workshop full of spare mechanical components. Han Xiao casually pointed his finger to ask Maple Moon to sit wherever she wanted. He then lit a cigarette and began smoking. The smoke created a mysterious atmosphere, and Maple Moon, upon seeing this scene, knew immediately that something exciting was about to happen to her. This caused her heartbeat to thump rapidly. She was very expectant.

Han Xiao flicked the ashes off his cigarette as he said, “The Germinal Organization is an evil organization that is using the grief the people who lost their country to manipulate them into fighting for their personal gains. They outlandishly try to start a world war and add more scars to this world that is already covered in wounds…”

Han Xiao embellished the story with many details of the evil deeds that the Germinal Organization had previously committed, but he did not twist any facts around. The Germinal Organization had indeed committed a lot of bloody acts. Han Xiao was able to know all this based on the memories from his past life and by reading the relevant case files on the Dark Net. He gave a good account of all these incidents to Maple Moon.

As Maple Moon listened to Han Xiao attentively, her emotions fluctuated up and down. Her impression of the Germinal Organization plummeted as she felt the anger brewing within her. Maple Moon was the kind of person who would get emotional from the storyline of a game, and she would always make decisions based on what her heart wanted. She had never been motivated by personal gains.

There were actually a lot of players like Maple Moon since most players were there to enjoy the game. A game was a story that people could easily immerse themselves in. However, most of such players were playing offline games, so it was rare to find players like this in an online game.

Han Xiao, in fact, found players like Maple Moon admirable. He coughed and asked a question that was clearly leading to a quest. “Would you be willing to become an enemy of the Germinal Organization?”

It was basically a yes or no question.

Maple Moon nodded solemnly.

_____________________

Your reputation with Black Phantom has increased by 5 points.

_____________________

After adjusting her reputation points, Han Xiao took out a mobile phone and handed it to Maple Moon. “Good, I have seen your courage. When you have grown stronger, contact me using this phone.

_____________________

You received the quest [Black Phantom’s Invitation]. Reach LV 20, then contact Black Phantom.

_____________________

Maple Moon was secretly delighted by her correct choice. She was right—there were hidden plots that could be triggered!

Han Xiao’s secretly chuckled as he saw Maple Moon’s delighted face. He was planning to spread a wide net to catch all these players with good potential. However, due to the limited number of players he could train, choosing each player carefully was a very important thing. Maple Moon would be a famous mechanic in the future and could be a good assistant for him. She was definitely a good spare tire… Cough! I mean an alternative.

As for the remaining candidates, Han Xiao had to think hard about them. He was prepared to choose the players who had good principles and potential. As long as Han Xiao showed players that they could trigger hidden missions from him, the rest of the professional players would automatically come to find him by themselves, and this would allow him to have more choices in picking the candidates.

A rough plan was generated inside Han Xiao mind, and he believed that it was rather actionable, but for the time being, the players still required a period of growth before he could proceed to the next step of his plan.

…

After he sent away the excited Maple Moon, he waited till noon before creating a new quest for the players.

_____________________

[Hunting Germinal]: Follow Black Phantom to attack a troop from the Germinal Organization. This quest is a Prize-Pool Mission, and the base reward is 35,000 Experience. 500 Experience will be consumed by accepting the quest and be placed in the reward pool. The total reward will be split proportionally among the top 5 players (or teams).

_____________________

Han Xiao had the ability to release different kinds of quests including a Prize-Pool Mission. Unfortunately, the reward he could dispense for a Prize-Pool Mission would still depend on the upper limit of a single mission. However, as the players were mostly around the level of four or five, 35,000 was still an astronomical number to them.

The players wanting to join the Prize-Pool Mission had to pay an ‘admission fee’. Han Xiao tried and realized that he could not manipulate the Experience that the players put into the prize pool. He felt bummed, like he had lost another way to earn—scam—the noobs.

The Kill-all Guild was the first to discover the Prize-Pool Mission. They were shocked by the sheer size of the reward for the quest.

“This must be the first Prize-Pool Mission!”

“Oh woah! 35,000 Experience! Even for the base reward, it is way too much! The quests that I can do now only give me a few hundred Experience!”

“If more players accept this quest, the prize pool will accumulate to an astronomical number!”

All the members from the Kill-all guild could not contain their excitement.

SliceYouUp’s eyes flashed, and he had a different thought. “No, we cannot allow other players to accept this quest!”

Members of the guild were shocked and asked the president, “Why not?”

Slicer eighteen spoke volubly, “Only five players or teams can receive the prize for this quest. The Big Horn Village has few hundred thousand players which even include some professional players. Rather than competing with all of them and rely on luck, why not just get the 35,000 Experience into our hand! If we are the only ones to accept the quest, we can easily manipulate the ranking and distribute the reward without the rest of our guild. Also, if we only win the quest as a team, each member will only gain an insubstantial amount of Experience. If we can distribute the Experience to a few individuals, it will be a lot more useful!”

He wanted to get several core members to complete the task and earn the huge amount of Experience—it was basically transferring the Experience that other members of the guild would gain to an elite few. If everyone in the guild were to gain the Experience, each person would only average about 500 Experience, which was insignificant. However, if the Experience were to be transferred to just a few members, their growth would be greatly accelerated.

The guild members look at each other in consternation. Although they were reluctant, they did not want to lose their job. It was only a little Experience; it would not matter that much. So, everyone agreed.

“The quest only starts in the afternoon, and Black Phantom will definitely set out in advance. As long as we do not let any players come into contact with him during these two hours, we are set!”

SliceYouUp ordered his guild members to hold up pistols and guard the area around Han Xiao. He then gave an order. “Warn any person that’s coming near him. If anyone defies the warning, fire immediately.”

The Kill-all guild had more than twenty core members located within Big Horn Village and more than a hundred secondary members. It was the biggest player faction at the moment.

These guilds working in a studio were different from casual players. They had a presence in many games, and only when they were certain that a particular game was valuable enough to have a great investment in would they then move their members based in other games into that specific game. The Kill-all Guild had a few thousand members, but there were only about a hundred of them based in Galaxy. More players from the guild would join the game when more VR capsules were on sale.

Players in this game could kill each other. However, the more people they killed, the more Sin points they would accumulate. The amount of Experience and equipment that a player would drop for dying was proportional to their Sin points.

…

Han Xiao realized that there was a group of guild players around him chasing the other players away, preventing anyone from getting close to him. They were rather aggressive and stern—those that got driven away were afraid to speak up.

He pondered for a moment and immediately understood what the Kill-all Guild was trying to do. His face turned black. “This guild to trying to swallow my Prize-Pool Mission alone—how fearless!”

His original intention of the Prize-Pool Mission was to get more players to join in and become his canon-fodder, but the Kill-all Guild was now interfering his plan.

A large group of players gathered on the side. They were indignant.

“They are too authoritative! I just want to buy some ammunition, that’s all!”

“What right do you have to forcibly occupy Black Phantom‽”

At this moment, members of the Sky Territory Guild forced their way through the crowd and confronted the Kill-all Guild.

Jade Green Sky then shouted, “What are you guys trying to do‽”

SliceYouUp was expressionless. He did not even bother to explain before he gestured with his hand; his members around him immediately aimed their pistol at Jade Green Sky. This immediately triggered the members of the Sky Territory Guild—they responded in kind.

All the other players were slightly shocked by this scene. They quickly moved backward, lest they got splashed with blood.

Jade Green Sky was hesitant. He had fewer people on his side, so he knew that he would be at a disadvantage once the battle began. He did not understand why the Kill-all Guild suddenly became so authoritative, but he was certain that something fishy was going on. Furthermore, with so many eyes around observing them, the Sky Territory Guild could not act like cowards.

Jade Green Sky and his members glanced at each other, confirming each other’s thoughts.

Fight!

Tension was building on both sides.

Other players stretched their necks to watch the show—two big, famous guilds fighting against each other was not an everyday occurrence.

The battle was on the verge of starting.

Just then, every member in the Kill-all Guild received a notification on their interface.

_____________________

Your reputation with Black Phantom decreased by 10 points.

Current Reputation: -5

Current Relationship: Cold

_____________________

SliceYouUp was astonished!

“Oh My!”

“What’s the matter?”

“How did my reputation drop!”

Players from the Kill-all Guild were all confused. They immediately turned back to look at Han Xiao, only to find him looking in their direction with a look of indifference. This time around, no matter how thickheaded they were, they could figure what was going on. They observed curiously and suspiciously from the side.

SliceYouUp was extremely troubled. How was he to know that such actions would cause Black Phantom’s unhappiness? Wasn’t it normal for guilds to hoard resources in the game? Why was this NPC so intelligent?

The reputation earned these few days was all gone, and it even dropped quite a bit!

The members around him gave him looks of disapproval. It was too late for regret for SliceYouUp. He could sense that his authority as a leader had decreased a level. He was stuck in a very difficult situation, and he could only quickly withdraw from the scene with his men.

The players around him were baffled. They did not know why or how the previously arrogant Kill-all Guild cowered in a matter of seconds.

Jade Green Sky thought that Kill-all was afraid of their Sky Territory.

What’s happening? When did my Guild become this cool?

With no one blocking the way anymore, the players realized there was a Prize-Pool Mission. They finally realized Kill-all Guild’s motive. They were filled with righteous indignation, for that was totally unfair.

“Look at them trying to claim the entire Prize-Pool!”

“Gross!”

After crusading against Kill-all, the players then turned their focus to the Prize-Pool Mission, becoming increasingly attracted to it. Everyone accepted the quest, all wanting a slice of that huge cake.

The Prize-Pool slowly amounted to over 500,000 Experience, and to those players, it was simply an unthinkable sum, to the point that just thinking of it would make them stop breathing.

There were only five people that would be entitled to the Prize-Pool rewards. The ranking depended on the energy expended. Compared to the number of participants, five was undoubtedly a small number.

But the problem was that everyone thought they would be the lucky person. Even though it was almost as unlikely as winning the lottery, there was still that glimmer of hope that shone in their eyes—if they were chosen, it would be like hitting the jackpot.

The players were not even at LV 10 yet. Their combat strength was extremely low, but the good thing about them was that they were not afraid of death. With a pistol, they could deal a bit of damage. At least with everyone around, they could combine their firepower. This was why Han Xiao thought of the quest.

…

The forest of Big Horn Village was vast, and the huge amount of information on the Dark Net helped mark the exact route of the Germinal Organization’s evacuating troops.

Everyone arrived at the place where the trap was marked. Players teamed up and spread out to ambush. Among them, the players from the closed beta were obviously preferred as teammates. Of course, those with a guild would be the most advantageous.

Teaming was the best advantage one could have. Everyone knew that solely relying on one’s efforts alone would never get one onto the list.

Maple Moon was a little down. Every player had a team. She was just a step slower and did not manage to find anyone to team up with.

Han Xiao noticed and called Maple Moon. He took out his modified sniper rifle, as well as several rounds of ammunition, and handed it to Maple Moon. “I’ll lend you this gun, stay by my side.”

Maple Moon clasped her two hands over her tiny mouth in surprise with a cute look of shock. She had thought that this was the benefit of triggering the secret quest. But upon seeing the traits of the sniper rifle, she was stuck in a difficult position. The sniper rifle required an attribute of at least Level1 in [Sniper].

Maple Moon pouted. “But I don’t know how to use this.”

_____________________

Black Phantom has imparted the ability [Sniper] to you. Do you want to expend 2000 Experience to learn it?

_____________________

Han Xiao had not taught the gamers about this sniper ability. Maple Moon was shocked and happy at the same time. She agreed without a second thought.

Since Maple Moon was worthy of training, Han Xiao naturally became biased toward her. Of course, this was a secret between them. If other players felt that it is unfair, what can they do but restrain their complaints? In this materialistic society, people without resources had no say!

…

A gust of wind whistled through the forest.

The ambushing players all had nervous yet excited faces. It was the first battle for many of them.

Jade Green Sky brought Sky Territory’s members to camouflage themselves in the forest. It was a must for him to attain one of the top three prizes from the Prize-Pool Mission. He thought to himself, My biggest rival should be Kill-all. First place is bound to be either of us.

On the other hand, SliceYouUp was still extremely troubled by Han Xiao’s extreme drop in reputation, but the quest still had to be done. He took a look at his dejected guild members. “Don’t think too much. Just finish this quest first. We cannot let Sky Territory’s members get ahead of us.”

The passing time was like a sharp knife, killing any warmth in the atmosphere.

Han Xiao took out the report he had gotten from the Dark Net. He took one final look. There were two combat executives in the evacuating troops, Freire and Seiberre. The two of them had once been part of the same elite army squad, each over LV 30, but they were of no threat to him.

Woo woo—

The sound of the engine came from far away. The sniper rifle’s electromagnetic scanner showed the Germinal Organization’s troops on its radar.

Han Xiao reoriented his vision, becoming extremely alert.

Maple Moon followed Han Xiao’s every word and action, sprawling on the ground with the sniper rifle. Suddenly, Han Xiao seemed to have disappeared. He was clearly right in front of her; how could he have vanished from her vision? This made her very uncomfortable.

_____________________

You have entered [Stealth] state. Agility stats +8%.

Your next strike will have a Sneak attack effect.

You have entered [Steady Aim] stat. Your next shot has +15% shooting power.

_____________________

[Night Stalker] had bestowed Han Xiao with many hidden skills, and accompanied with his [Flaming Will], anybody shot was bound to be destroyed.

There was the Little Li Flying Dagger in the past. Today there is my deathly blow. Haha, this sounds so good!

This shot was specially prepared for the executives. Han Xiao held his breath and aimed steadily like a patient hunter awaiting his prey.

The Germinal Organization’s evacuating troops entered the trap and were almost immediately caught off-guard by the many animal traps set up. But they were also puzzled by the animal traps. Was this really a trap?

If this was not a trap, how fierce was the beast in the area to require so many animal traps? And if this was a trap, who would be stupid enough to use animal traps to deal with an armed force? It was so obvious as well.

Freire, the conductor, felt something was amiss. He said in the intercom, “Be careful, there is a possibility of an ambush. Deploy minesweepers.”

The troops slowed their advancement. Carrying the metal detectors, the minesweepers overtook them.

The Germinal Organization had been shifting their bases in massive operations, and many troops had been intercepted. Their enemies were not just from the Six Nations. There were other enemies looking for revenge taking advantage of their current situation. When Germinal was still strong, these enemies did not dare make any move. But now that they were met with such a good opportunity for revenge, they all got excited.

Freire and Seiberre had been caught in an ambush during their journey, and they had all raised their alertness greatly since.

Beep beep beep.

The metal detectors flashed in red, indicating that there were mines underground. At the same time, the scouts also found traces of human activity.

Freire’s expression darkened. “Enemy ambush ahead!”

Just as the Germinal troops were sweeping the field for mines, the players who were hiding in the bushes spotted their enemy as well. The heavily armed Germinal soldiers and armored vehicles looked formidable. The players dared not anger them.

But at the slightest thought of the huge reward-pool, the players were unable to resist. Some jumped out of the bushes immediately, firing their pistols from afar.

The Germinal soldiers habitually wanted to sprawl down and hide, but they realized that the enemies’ bullets were almost going into outer-space. Their aim was just so bad.

“Counterattack!”

The Germinal troops returned fire without hesitation. The submachine guns fired away, the armored vehicles’ machine guns roared, and some heavy firepower guns could be heard, too.

The fierce artillery instantly tore the players running toward them into pieces.

“What the hell is this damage!”

“I died instantly when the explosion blast grazed me!”

“My Experience’s dropped so drastically!”

The first wave of players eliminated died tragically, leaving the rest of the players in awe of the Germinal Organization’s firepower.

SliceYouUp gritted his teeth. “Task requirement is to achieve highest damage. Doesn’t matter if you die, just deal damage! Go!”

The penalty in Galaxy for dying was not light to say the least. Experience was deducted proportionally to a player’s level, and the player could only be revived up to a maximum of ten times within six days. With every death, the waiting time before the next revival would increase. After hitting the limit, there would be a temporary ban on the player. Despite all this, it was worth dying once or twice for the Prize-Pool Missions.

The players from Sky Territory also had the same thoughts, and all the other players followed suit and fearlessly, albeit tactlessly, made their attack on the Germinal soldiers, giving the latter a shock.

“All these enemies are rushing to die?” Seiberre was surprised; he had never seen such a fearless army, like a pack of starving wolves, dying to get a piece of them.

Their spirit and momentum were impressive, but in terms of combat ability… they were shamefully pathetic.

“They are just a motley crowd, let’s satisfy them since they want to die so badly!” Freire snorted and promptly commanded the surrounding troops. Since there were mines buried in the forest, the Germinal troops stopped their armored vehicles and started using as their armored vehicles as a temporary base for their counterattacks, killing off waves of players with ease.

“Shit… Can’t even touch them!”

“I already died twice! Goddammit!”

The Germinal troops was dominating the fight. The other players were being massacred, yet they refused to give up in the hope of dealing some damage to claim the quest rewards.

“I will give them a surprise.” Seiberre smirked. He saw absolutely no threat from these enemies. He was itching to toy with them.

Freire frowned slightly. “Don’t go crazy, we are in a rush.”

“Humph! I’m always quick with my kills.”

Seiberre hopped off the armored vehicle. With his strong physical attributes, all he needed was a slight push against the floor with his feet, and he was off dashing toward the players like a cannonball. His foot landed on a player and instantly caused the poor soul’s chest to cave in before the player was sent flying, hitting against a tree with an explosion of blood and flesh. The shooters dealt no damage to Seiberre, since he would dodge way before they could aim. Even if some bullets did hit him, it would be nothing but single digit damage.

Seiberre went on a killing spree like a tiger among the sheep, and the players were desperately trying to retreat. However, Seiberre would catch up and kill them before they could react. Many tried to assess Seiberre’s stats.

_____________________

Seiberre – ?

Level – ?

Class – ?

Threat Level – Extremely fatal

_____________________

Another extremely fatal dude! No one knew what this threat level meant until this moment, but the contrast in skill level was apparent.

The combat strength of a high-level character was indeed to be feared.

Black Phantom and Seiberre have about the same combat strength. This thought flashed across the minds of many of the players.

Seiberre was covered in his enemies’ blood, like a ravaging beast. The scene looked so realistic that it scared some of the more timid players, who quickly adjusted the graphics to PG mode to reduce the gore. Some turned on the recording function to capture this highly bloody scene.

A panic-stricken player fell, and Seiberre, in the midst of his killing spree, laughed as he started to crush the poor player like a cockroach. Suddenly, blood spilled out from Seiberre’s chest, and a gaping hole appeared at the place where Seiberre’s heart was supposed to be.

Seiberre stopped moving, his entire face frozen. Then, he collapsed and fell to the ground without a sound.

“Is he… dead?”

“He just got killed in one shot!”

Everyone was thrown into shock and confusion. How did the blood-lusting monstrous enemy just get defeated in a split second?

Then, the electrical current buzz of a sniper rifle from afar came within earshot.

Jade Green Sky, SliceYouUp, and all the other players that were still alive glanced unanimously in the direction of the rifle. Everyone remembered that it was roughly where Black Phantom was camping.

This snipe kill was by Black Phantom!

“Even such a vicious enemy was killed by Black Phantom in one shot!”

The players all gasped in disbelief. Black Phantom was also extremely fatal in terms of threat level, but this was way more fatal than Seiberre!

Black Phantom was obviously on a higher level than Seiberre, but it was still incredible that the fearsome Seiberre got killed in a single shot. Han Xiao left a mysterious and immeasurable impression on everyone.

Nothing was scarier than a killer who could instantly kill his victims.

Seiberre is very strong in terms of Energy attributes. How could he have been killed instantly? Freire was shocked.

This shot sounds familiar… the ability to instant-kill a Superhuman… Only one person is capable of doing this.

Freire’s face changed immediately.

“Must be the Ghost-level Black Phantom from the Blood Pact Society! Goddammit, why is such a high-level monster finding trouble with us? I thought he only does bounty hunting?”

Black Phantom’s reputation preceded him in the Underground World in these two months because of his amazing stats. He had killed ‘The Raging Bolt’ Bai Jin in an instant. Even the famous Invisible Demon was running for his dear life from Black Phantom. It was no wonder that Black Phantom rose to fame as the best assassin in the Blood Pact Society and his name began to instill fear in many.

The Germinal Organization gave a command long ago, asking its members to avoid direct conflict with Black Phantom. It would be troublesome to deal with this type of super assassin, even for big organizations.

Freire wanted to retreat, and he ordered for it with no hesitation. “All force retreat!”

It was too late!

Han Xiao activated the EMP Disruptor he had buried. Some of the Germinal troops’ armored vehicles were in the effective range of the disruptor, and they broke down immediately, crackling and sizzling with electricity. One third of the vehicles were fortunate enough to be outside of the effective range; Freire’s was one of them.

Freire could not be bothered with the rest of the troops. He knew that he needed to retreat.

Don’t even think about escaping after you have entered my sight.

Han Xiao’s glaze was as cold as the frozen ice as he activated a particular program. Having max leveled [Basic Programming], Han Xiao could bind most mechanical control systems to his computer.

Three metallic plates were lying at a spot three hundred meters horizontally away from the Germinal troops. Suddenly, they all cracked open from the center and started a series of self-folding, forming a multi-barreled heavy machine gun, with the metal plate as the base of the battery. This was the foldable portable battery that Han Xiao had buried beforehand. They were equipped with automatic firing systems, and the ammunition loaded was all highly explosive and could pierce through armor. The firing range had a five-hundred-meter radius.

The portable battery was one of Han Xiao’s new blueprints. It was the product from a mixture of various technology—a fixed battery combined with folding technology and many other designs. Han Xiao had spent a lot of effort and had failed countless times before arriving at the final model, which was very handy. He could have arrived at something similar by merging different ideas, but inventing the fort by himself saved him from using Experience.

As Han Xiao learned more and more blueprints, it was becoming obvious that he was capable of grasping the functionality and usage of knowledge.

Within the last two months, he already bought the last three types of basic knowledge that he had yet to acquire from the slightly friendlier camps. They were [Basic Energy Conversion], [Basic Thermodynamics], [Basic Acoustics]. To learn all fifteen types of basic knowledge was a feat even for some full-level players, not to mention players under level forty.

The multi-barreled machine gun aimed at the Germinal troops, who were a few hundred meters away, automatically, warmed up for one second, and fired away. The fiery metallic storm blew all the trees in the way to bits, and the immobilized The Germinal troops’ armored vehicles could not escape the same fate!

There was nothing but screams of agony and firework-like explosions.

The cost of a small foldable battery port was high, as was the ammunition. Wars fought by Mechanics were all expensive like this, but with sufficient funds, Mechanics were capable of having dominating firepower. Only a rich and resourceful guy like Han Xiao was able to fully utilize the abilities of a Mechanic to the fullest extent.

The firepower from the battery turret gave the rest of the players a huge shock, but this shock quickly turned into a craze over Han Xiao.

“So, this is how Mechanics fight!”

“One guy soloing against the whole army!”

“He is way too strong!”

Han Xiao did not idle either, he began sniping the enemies one by one. He smiled upon seeing the excitement among the other players. He did not have to use the battery turret against the small Germinal troop, but he did so anyway for the sake of demonstrating the destructive power of Mechanics.

However, looks could be deceiving. When the players went to research about the actual cost to play as a Mechanic, they would find the painful truth behind this vocation–”Using Ona to create happiness, GTFO if you don’t have money.”

Mechanics would be very weak in early games because most mechanics were poor.

With the enemies mostly defeated, the rest of the players realized that it was the best time for them to deal extra damage, and they all began to rush forward to attack the army. Maple Moon also started firing. Her sniper scope was equipped with Electromagnetism Detector and aim assist, so almost every shot of hers could hit the Germinal soldiers. She gained momentum, and her damage output became steady.

Although the realistic battle scenes were too gory for Maple Moon, she got used to it quickly as she had experience with gory scenes from other games. Moreover, she could change the game setting to make the graphics less bloody.

Han Xiao shot through Freire’s knees but spared his life. Then, he switched to Red Falcon and started clearing the remaining Germinal soldiers at a rate much more efficient than normal players. One shot, one kill.

The sound of gunfire gradually ceased; the battle had come to an end. Many seemed like they wanted to watch more.

The paralyzed Freire could not be bothered with his own agony but looked at the crowd of spectating players in shock. He had been watching the battle very carefully, and he noticed that many of the players, who were killed earlier on, came back.

“Are they zombies or what?”

Freire was confused.

Han Xiao, clad in full black, appeared. The players started to quieten down despite their excitement.

He stood in front of Freire, squatted down, and stared into the latter’s eyes that were filled with shock and anger. “Where were you all heading toward?”

“Black Phantom, Germinal will never let you off!” Freire was furious.

“You got it wrong.”

Han Xiao expressionlessly dragged Freire into the forest by his collar. Shortly afterwards, bone-chilling screams could be heard.

It was not difficult to imagine that Freire was being tortured, and everyone felt a shiver down their spine.

After ten minutes, the screaming finally ended. Han Xiao reappeared but without Freire.

He wiped his hands clean of blood using a rag. He glanced around and saw that all eyes were on him. Now that he had the information that he wanted, he was free to end the mission.

All the players received a notification simultaneously.

_____________________

[Hunt Down Germinal] has been completed. The Prize-Pool has 520,000 Experience.

Damage Output Ranking:

– No. 1 – Maple Moon (Solo)

– No. 2 – Jade Green Sky (Team)

– No. 3 – SliceYouUp (Team)

– No. 4 …

Reward pool will be allocated 30%, 25%, 20%, 15%, 10% of Experience accordingly.

_____________________

Everyone was shocked. No one expected this ranking.

“She overtook Sky Territory and Kill-all.”

“Hitting the scoreboard with solo output. Incredible!”

“Who is Maple Moon? Is she a professional player?”

“I never heard of this ID before though.”

The crowd was going crazy.

Jade Green Sky and SliceYouUp were shocked.

A solitary player’s output was actually higher than that of a guild. The Experience earned by a team had to be divided equally among the players, but Maple Moon could keep the hundreds of thousands of Experience to herself. What this meant was extraordinary! In an instant, she had exceeded all the players to hold a safe lead, and that included the other novice planets.

Maple Moon was hit with shock by her unexpected success, her face full of disbelief as she stared at the Experience bar on the interface. She had used a sniper rifle with firm and stable output through the battle and did not expect that she would emerge as the top player. She knew her limitations well. This was only possible because she had relied fully on Black Phantom. This was obviously a benefit that came from triggering the secret quest. Maple Moon made up her mind; she had to persist in unearthing the secret quest. Black Phantom was such a powerful aide, so she had to stay on good terms with Black Phantom.

Han Xiao returned to the car, and Maple Moon immediately returned the sniper rifle.

Some players followed them and were surprised to realize that Black Phantom was actually interacting with Maple Moon on close terms.

Jade Green Sky immediately reacted. “There is a secret quest!”

“She is so lucky.”

Everyone stared enviously at Maple Moon. Maple Moon was not used to the attention from the crowd, so she blushed and hid in the car. Han Xiao saw this but did not chase anyone away. Instead, he started driving his car back to Big Horn Village. The players had no choice but to follow on foot.

As he was driving, Han Xiao scrolled through the forum. Suddenly, a new post was pushed to the top of the forum—”A high-ranking NPC’s combat capability!”

Clicking into the post, the battle scene that just occurred popped up on the page. Some players uploaded their recorded videos. The Germinal Organization’s troops were displaying their formidable combat capability. When Seiberre was murdering players, there were a few barrages. The audience felt as if they were present at the scene—they were tensed up with nervousness. However, the next moment, Seiberre was killed in one shot. The shot blew out explosively, and blood was flying everywhere. Then, the portable battery demonstrated its prowess, crippling the Germinal troops in an instant. The scene was even more shocking.

Responses to the post were posted in the dozens every second, and it soon accumulated a few thousand responses.

“That character was so powerful, but he got killed in one shot!”

“Isn’t Black Phantom the advanced NPC from Big Horn Village? What is his level?”

“Mechanic is so powerful. I think there’s great prospects!”

“Damn, I’m in a planet with a magic background; there are no Mechanics”

Scrolling through the responses that were marveling at the scene, Han Xiao smiled to himself.

Faking it… bah, the idea of showing my strength really worked.

The effect was apparent. Once he got to the settlement, the players that had hesitated in switching their Class were now fervently picking up the basics. Prior to this, the entire Big Horn Village had only twenty percent of players choosing Mechanic. After the video went viral online, players’ excitement for Mechanics was just breaking through the roofs. The players swaying precariously between Classes immediately switched to Mechanic.

A hundred, five hundred, then a thousand …

The Experience on the Interface was just piling up like crazy. Han Xiao kept his face straight to not smile. In the short few days at Big Horn Village, he had collected two or three million Experience just by lazing around, and that was comparable to accumulating Experience through four or five missions. This was way safer and more efficient.

The player market was indeed a market with the most potential. The NPC functions were really useful. Imparting skills was allowing him to gain great profit without any cost, and that was only possible because he owned the interface as well as the NPC functions.

Han Xiao knew that you could not be impatient in grooming students, so he only imparted basic skills. The players that were convinced to switch to Mechanic would come to be his key customers in the future. After all, Han Xiao’s was a Mechanic.

After these version 1.0 players gained a deep understanding of Mechanics, they would realize that they had been scammed. By then, it would be too late. Even if they lamented to heaven and knocked their heads against the earth, it would be pointless. They could only choose to continue or start from nothing again. In this way, Han Xiao’s goal would have been achieved—as long as these players wanted to improve their combat effectiveness quickly, they can only rely on him to buy advanced machinery.

You want to become strong?

How can you not spend money‽

Han Xiao took a smoke, and he thought to himself, After a few versions, you will be thanking me…

In this way, he brushed off his sense of guilt.

…

On one side, Jade Green Sky approached Maple Moon and asked politely: “Babe, I wonder if you’re free now.”

Maple Moon looked up doubtfully and saw a group of male players with a look of thirst in their eyes. She stepped back nervously and warned, “What are you up to? I warn… warn you, this game prohibits any sexual harassment!”

The members of Sky Territory were at a loss whether to laugh or cry. Babe, we are curious about your secret quest, not in you!

Jade Green Sky coughed. “I only want to ask how you triggered Black Phantom’s secret quest. Don’t worry, we’ll reward you fairly.”

Maple Moon shook her head, rejecting his request without a pause. She enjoyed unearthing secret quests, but that was not because of the profit, and she did not want Black Phantom to dislike her.

With no alternative, Jade Green Sky could only give up and walk away. Just then, a member suggested, “We could ask around to see if there were other players who overheard the conversation between Maple Moon and Black Phantom.”

Jade Green Sky’s eyes lit up, and he nodded in agreement. And there were really some results. They managed to find out ‘the secret way to trigger secret quests’ from a player.

Han Xiao was sending off the last few players who had come to switch to Mechanic when Jade Green Sky rushed up to him. With the question that Maple Moon had asked in mind, Jade Green Sky asked, “Black Phantom, why are you enemies with the Germinal Organization?”

Oh, someone is rising to the bait.

Han Xiao looked at him. Although Jade Green Sky was the leader of a guild, his potential was not good at all. It was better to answer directly.

“What does it have to do with you?”

Jade Green Sky was at a loss. Why was he getting a different reaction compared to the response Maple Moon had gotten? Was he cheated?

Not willing to give up, he kept on changing his lines. Han Xiao cast his eyes downward and refused to play along with him. In the end, Jade Green Sky could only give up in frustration.

“Unless it depends on the gender?”

This thought suddenly came up in Jade Green Sky’s mind. He stared at Han Xiao’s unattractive face for a long while, and he felt like he was enlightened.

…

The player’s market potential in Big Horn Village had been temporarily exhausted. It was still only the open beta—the players were rather fresh, and their lack of unity resembled a plate of loose sand. With growth, as they completed more missions, Han Xiao would have more opportunities to exploit them.

Han Xiao had a set of ‘commercial’ plans for players, and this was only the initial link. As players advanced, his plan could then be gradually implemented.

He was not in a hurry to go to the next novice village. He had a friendly chat with Freire and fished out some information on the Germinal Organization’s withdrawal route in South Continent. This is a large-scale war, which meant that he could probably get quite a number of A-level missions. With his character, he was sure to get a foot in. What would become of him if he did not try to get involved?

With the wistful gaze of players in the Big Horn Village, Han Xiao drove his vehicle away.

Maple Moon looked at the car driving off into the horizon and told herself that she would wait until she reached LV 20 before she contacted Black Phantom.

Just half an hour after Han Xiao left, Frenzied Sword arrived at Big Horn Village, panting furiously. He grabbed a player and asked, “Where is Black Phantom?”

“He has already left.”

Frenzied Sword’s face turned white. He was late by half a day because the Western Capital was under martial law to search for Germinal spies.

He felt like weeping but had no tears left! How infuriating!

…

The battle video stayed as the top post on the forum. Han Xiao was the strongest fighter the players had seen so far. He could kill a strong enemy in one shot from hundreds of meters away. Not only that, he could also deploy a portable battery turret. Players were very envious of his capabilities. Whenever he appeared, he was like a dark phantom, omnipotent and mysterious. If not for his unappealing look, due to the Facial Simulator, he would have many female fans.

The first player to upload the videos was Mu Chen. He never had received any responses for his posts in the past, but this was his first time experiencing the feeling of having ten thousand people replying to his post. He was reading through the replies enthusiastically.

Ding Dong.

He received a notification from the system.

Mu Chen was puzzled. He had not added any friends. Who would send him a message?

_____________________

Dear esteemed player,

Your video has been selected as promotional material for version 1.0. The reward will be sent to your account within one working day. Do look out for it.

– Galaxy Official.

_____________________

Mu Chen was completely caught off-guard by the pleasant surprise.

The vast majority of players were still busy with missions, but players in teams—essentially serious guilds or professional players—were more purposeful in their actions. They planned their developmental pathway carefully and worked steadily to advance.

But the Guild of Gods was in an awkward situation. Jupiter had dumped all the daily administrative work to the Vice President. He could not give up on the A-level mission. He had been leading a group of people to search high and low for Germinal’s bases but to no avail. Without any other means, he could only focus on the forum to see if any players were in contact with Germinal.

Despite all odds, Jupiter managed to find a lead.

“Andrea Mainland is Germinal’s base camp. Any player who arrives on Andrea Mainland can join Germinal’s side easily.”

But this lead was useless for Jupiter.

The core members of the A-level mission were all in Southern Continent, and Zero was more likely to be in Southern Continent too. However, Jupiter could not possibly bring a team over to Andrea Mainland. Most importantly, they had no access to another mainland.

In fact, they could actually take cruise ships or aircrafts, but none of the players had reached this level.

The most popular post on the forum was the battle scene recorded by the players at Big Horn Village. Jupiter had not seen it before, but he was finally opening it to take a look. He was caught off guard by shock. Just as he was about to close the post, he suddenly had an outlandish thought. He paused the video and scrutinized the scene. He finally concluded that the troop that was attacked had the Germinal Organization’s emblem on them.

He had finally found the organization!

Jupiter almost burst into tears before it occurred to him that the troop had been destroyed. His face changed suddenly. He quickly read through the content of the post, but unfortunately, the user did not elaborate on the details.

Jupiter was eager to find out what had happened, so he had members contact the players in Big Horn Village.

The guild was so efficient that he soon got to know that the troop that had been attacked was in fact an evacuating Germinal Organization unit. He was dumbfounded.

“Evacuate? Why are they evacuating? Where are they evacuating from? What is the scale of this evacuation—a single unit or a full battalion?”

Jupiter gulped nervously. He had an ominous feeling in his gut… Seems like we won’t be returning to the Germinal Organization any time soon.

This A-level mission was such a scam. Jupiter was so frustrated. Before the team could start on the mission, the organization that had issued the mission had run away.

…

In the evening, the setting sun covered the earth in a blood red glow. The outlines the moons were looming in the twilight sky.

In the woods outside Big Horn Village, Frenzied Sword was walking down the path, downcast in despondence.

“I must find him.” Frenzied Sword quickly broke away from his despondent mood and was talking to himself to boost his own spirits.

“Are you looking for me?” A voice came from ahead.

Frenzied Sword looked up. A truck was parked a few meters ahead with a man in black standing by it, staring at him intensely.

Black Phantom!

Frenzied Sword was ecstatic with excitement.

Every cloud had a silver lining!

“You, you… Have we met?” He could not be certain that Black Phantom was in fact Han Xiao. With much worry and fear, he felt like he was almost waiting for a verdict after he had asked the question.

Han Xiao smiled, revealing a tinge of amusement in his eyes. “What do you think?”

That familiar look! The look that made his hair stand on end!

Frenzied Sword was seized by joy; he was certain that this person was Han Xiao!

I’m so glad that I didn’t give up, and I finally found you! Oh, Savior!

“Come with me.” With a faint smile on his face, Han Xiao gestured toward his truck with his head. Trying his best to conceal his excitement, Frenzied Sword followed closely behind and got into the truck.

He did not care where Han Xiao was taking him as long as he could stay with Han Xiao…

Han Xiao smiled to himself. After spending some happy days together, he remembered Frenzied Sword well. But this was not the reason he chose to bring Frenzied Sword along. Frenzied Sword had great potential, and he was worth grooming.

In addition, having a player by his side meant he could send him to check out unknown and dangerous areas. Frenzied Sword would not die anyway, so he could be assured and use him well.

Han Xiao could use Frenzied Sword’s help in his next moves, so when he found that Frenzied Sword was following him, he stopped to wait for him.

Frenzied Sword did not realize that he was being treated as a lab rat again. He was full of excitement, checking out the truck with much curiosity. He remembered that Han Xiao was a member of Stardragon’s intelligence agency during the closed beta. How did he become Black Phantom out of the blue?

But that was not important. As long as he could be with Han Xiao, Frenzied Sword would be content.

“What are we going to do now?” asked Frenzied Sword after his excitement died down.

“Something evil.” Han Xiao took out a tablet and opened the map. He drew a circle around one region and threw it to Frenzied Sword.

Frenzied Sword took a brief look.

“Tedramira River, what kind of place is that?”

“A battleground,” Han Xiao replied calmly. He stepped firmly on the accelerator, and the truck raced off.

…

Tedramira River was a large river in Southern Continent connected to the sea.

In the darkness of the night, a long line of boats was cruising down the river. This was a huge fleet of ships disguised as fishing boats. The boats were actually Germinal warships, well equipped with various weapons, anti-detection jammers, machine gun arrays, and so on.

As a result of the Six Nations’ clean-up campaign, the Germinal Organization’s bases had begun to withdraw. A small number of important personnel was taking the air route. Most of the resources, transportation vehicles, and ordinary armed personnel were evacuating via a water route.

The evacuation was nearing its end. This fleet was the last remaining unit to withdraw from Southern Continent. The outer layer of frigates was guarding the barges in the center that were ferrying vehicles and armed personnel.

The evacuation plan was to go out to the sea along a tributary of the Tedramira River and join forces with other ground troops near the mouth of the sea. The ground troops would then board the ships.

The person in charge, Lin Yu, was the Chief Officer of the largest Germinal base in Southern Continent. Now he had taken the role of a commander and was also within the fleet.

Lin Yu was a middle-aged man, yet he was also an Executive Officer that was combat ready. He was analyzing the map with a solemn face in the command room. There were many links in the evacuation plan. The fleet and the ground troops had to ensure that they arrived at the mouth of the sea at the same time because the fleet could not possibly stay put.

During the evacuation, a large number of Stardragon and Hesla fighter planes were performing aerial reconnaissance. The fleet’s whereabouts had likely been exposed, and fear on the fleet was rising.

Lin Yu knew very well that Hesla and Stardragon would have set up a trap near the mouth of the sea to capture them. Their navy, air force, and army would be waiting to intercept their fleet and capture them all at once.

But from the very beginning, Lin Yu knew clearly that it was impossible to evacuate sneakily. A bitter battle was inevitable. Only by tearing past the blockade line could his troops escape alive.

“As long as we follow along the Tedramira River to the sea, we can get out of this nightmare, but don’t hold the illusion of a smooth passage. Lads, we will be facing a premeditated ambush. The Stardragon and Hesla Navy will do whatever they can to sink us near the mouth of the sea!

“I’ve been through thirteen wars. Some of them were big battles, others small. Some of you may be veterans like me, and some of you may be new recruits. Regardless, our destiny is the same. Break through the blockade line, and we can stay alive. If you are captured, even if you can survive, you will face indefinite imprisonment by Stardragon and Hesla. You can say goodbye to freedom in the sun!

“The Six Nations are a group of hypocritical and insidious villains who speak of peace and freedom but started a war. Don’t forget that your motherland was destroyed by the guns of the Six Nations. Never forget that hatred of blood!

“We have no choice but to fight till the very end!”

These words were Lin Yu’s speech for his subordinates. The armed personnel on board knew that there was going to be a fierce battle ahead, and they were all ready to fight.

There was a number of Germinal Executive Officers in the fleet, and Hila was among them. She was worried and apprehensive about the impending fight. In her opinion, it was a naïve hope to think of breaking through the blockade of Stardragon and Hesla’s ships.

Many of them would perish, and only a small number of people could survive.

However, Commander Lin Yu seemed to have it all worked out. Thus, Hila could only suppress her unease and conceal it from others. On the outside, she seemed the stoic person she had always been.

In fact, for Hila, even if every Germinal member on the fleet died, she could not care less. She hated the Germinal Organization, but she could only survive with the help of these Germinal soldiers.

She knew that her hands were covered in blood, and she had never shunned it. Self-reproach and compassion belonged to good people. These emotions were too costly for her. From the day of her Awakening, she knew that she could never be a good person.

To rule death meant that she was destined to be banished to hell.

But her sister, Aurora, was completely different. She was an angel who used her love for the world to touch everyone she met. The only thing Hila regretted was that she did not protect her sister well, resulting in her falling into the hands of the Germinal Organization.

No matter what, I have to live on…

Only by surviving and demonstrating her usefulness could she help to reduce her sister’s suffering.

Anyone that stopped her would be an enemy.

Staring at the waves of the river, Hila was cold and stoic.

Tedramira River divided into branches flowing through Cloud Valley and eventually reaching the sea.

The location where Han Xiao had landed was on the edge of Cloud Valley. According to the information from the Dark Net Organization, Germinal’s evacuating land troops would converge with their maritime troops after passing through the valley.

Han Xiao’s target was to intercept the land troops. He was clear that the two countries would have planted their land troops in ambush; it was highly possible that the troops were placed within Cloud Valley. If he got any closer, he would be discovered. At this juncture, he did not wish to be in contact with the two countries.

Looks like I’ll have to choose a good spot.

With that thought in his mind, Han Xiao folded his arms and watched Fabian’s team assemble the truck’s front and frame. They also hung up the mechanical equipment in the cargo properly. While they were working, they were shockingly watching Frenzied Sword seductively dancing at one side.

“The item is delivered. I’ll get going now.”

“Alright, send Matthews my regards.” Han Xiao nodded with a smile.

Antonio waved before rising into the sky on his helicopter and disappeared swiftly over the horizon. The Fabian Company was only responsible for the transport of weapons and ammunition and had never taken part in battles.

Han Xiao sat inside the truck and took a look at the detailed map that had been sent over through the Dark Net. He was about to drive off when his phone rang.

“Hello.”

“Black Phantom, you’re joining in the Germinal commotion?” Bennett asked over the phone, surprised.

“Yes, you should come and play, too,” Han Xiao jokingly replied.

“The Dark Net has always been neutral; don’t go overboard. The Germinal Organization is a crazy bunch of old hags; they’ll attack whoever they see. I’m very frustrated because of them,” Bennett said helplessly.

“Don’t worry, I’ve never cheated my teammate.”

Bennett doubted his words. “Forget it, anyway, I will need your help with some matters later on.”

Over these past two months, Han Xiao had often called Bennett to keep in touch since he had Bennett’s number. Furthermore, with Han Xiao’s growing fame, Bennett was more than happy to converse with him. Hence, the relationship between the two of them was good.

After pocketing his phone, Han Xiao shook his head, stepped on the accelerator, and drove along the edge of the valley toward the area of his selected spot.

…

The river flowing through Cloud Valley provided moisture for the fertile soil. The terrain was relatively diversified; there were plains with shallow grasses, forests and hills. The scenery was beautiful; it calmed and relaxed one’s mind, compelling people to put down all their hatred and troubles.

Stardragon had a massive amount of land troops lying in ambush in the area, and they were armed with all kinds of battle equipment—tanks, attack helicopters, a coverage array of medium-distance guided missiles, and also a large number of minefields.

The commander of the land troops was a Stardragon official known as Huang Qiuming who had over twenty years of military service. His style was serious and meticulous. The reason Stardragon’s higher-ups had decided to use him was because they had taken a liking to Huang Qiuming’s stable style. As long as this battle followed the plan, victory is assured.

In the command vehicle’s position, Huang Qiuming looked at the map filled with markings and nodded expressionlessly.

“Everything is in order; the first layer of ambush is a minefield. If Germinal do not come in, they will miss their chance to meet with the maritime forces. Therefore, even if they are aware of the traps, they will still have to advance forward. The armed helicopter troops are always on standby; they can attack the minesweeper enemy troops from above, and the array of missile vehicles is always aiming at the edge of the woods. Once the enemy crosses the woods, we can strike…”

As long as everything went according to the plan, the enemy would have no way to escape.

…

The evacuating Germinal troops in the Southern Continent formed a large fleet with hundreds of different tanks; this huge army consisted of all the survivors of the retreating troops.

Lin Yu was the chief commander while the person in charge of the land troops was a white man known as Ugar.

Ugar was well aware that the troops were about to be ambushed. In order to keep up with the maritime forces, they had to pass through Cloud Valley. Hence, they were unable to avoid this confrontation. However, he had already made preparations for it; the evacuation troops of these bases carried with them new weapons, and some were rather formidable, definitely able to catch the enemy by surprise.

All these experimental weapons were important goods, and they even had some secret weapons who had undergone human experiments, specifically, the [Super Soldier Project].

…

After one big lap, the truck stopped at the edge on the other side of Cloud Valley. The tip-off had shown that this was a route that the Germinal land troops were unable to take as it was very far away.

Han Xiao did not enter the woods and took out a pile of spider detectors, more than forty in fact. They were activated through his tablet computer and started vibrating. They looked like a bunch of troops waiting for orders.

After two months of accumulation, Han Xiao’s skills had improved again; thus, his existing machinery had been renewed and strengthened. The spider detector was equipped with a low-level smart chip that automatically detected threats and fed them back to the computer. Hence, there was no need for Han Xiao to constantly refer to the screen. By adding a new drawing SUI anti-radar detection coating, it could better conceal its tracks, which was suitable for designated surveillance.

Han Xiao sent most of the spider detectors into the woods and left a few to advance in the opposite direction to scout for the Germinal Organization’s arrival.

While doing this job, Frenzied Sword got off the truck and noticed an extra line of words appearing in the status column.

_____________________

You’ve gained [Severe Car Sickness].

30% deducted from all attributes.

_____________________

“What the hell is this?” Frenzied Sword was flabbergasted. The experience feel he set was twenty percent true. He did not fully experience the thrill of the old driver’s driving skills, but the interface showed his physical state truthfully.

“Need me to do anything?” Frenzied Sword asked, thinking he could trigger a mission.

Han Xiao shook his head. “Not at the moment.”

Frenzied Sword’s combat strength was too low for this type of battle. He would only be useful as fearless cannon fodder.

Various minefields and radar detections had been laid in the woods a long time ago. Anyone entering the area would draw attention. Patience, adequate preparation, perfect planning, and calibrating other mechanical weapons were all he needed to do for the time being.

There were still a few days before the arrival of the Germinal Organization’s troops. Han Xiao had been preparing and waiting in the van. Frenzied Sword was by his side, receiving small tasks from him every day.

Even though he thought that Frenzied Sword had potential, he would not groom Frenzied Sword fully. The Experience he gave Frenzied Sword was limited compared to those players in the same period, yet Frenzied Sword was extremely satisfied.

Han Xiao was also reading the forum every day; the players were still as enthusiastic as before. He mainly paid attention to the Aquamarine section to know the progress of the players. It was still the novice phase. After they had grown, there would be a huge event that targeted the players waiting for them, and that was the prelude to the chaos.

Does me disrupting the quest mean that the player’s misfortunes will be delayed… or will they be brought forward?

Han Xiao rubbed his beard stubble, silently pondering. That was the first time the players had raised the attention of major forces on the planet. He still remembered that the previous generations had caused a ruckus that resulted in an extensive discussion, which was highly praised.

…

The moon was covered by dark clouds, and there was a thick fog that made it impossible to make out one’s own hand.

Spider No.1 was in the plains under the night sky, motionless, and faithfully executing the orders in sequence.

Boom!

The ground suddenly vibrated, and Spider No.1’s sensor felt the tremors. The detector immediately charged toward the direction of the vibrations.

A huge fleet of Germinal Troops could be seen in the distance, and Spider No.1 was right in their path.

Spider No.1 loyally transmitted out an alarm signal in the form of electric waves.

The vehicle was nearing, yet Spider No.1 foolishly remained, not knowing to hide.

Whoosh!

The huge fleet rapidly rolled passed, leaving a cloud of smoke behind.

It was not until the smoke and dust dispersed that the appearance of Spider No.1 could be made out.

Its body was covered in dust, yet it was not damaged in any ways; it seemed like the compressed wheels surprisingly did not grind over it at all.

Spider No.1 moved its limbs and turned around before continuing to follow its orders and dumbly following the fleet.

Han Xiao’s tablet received real-time alerts from Spider No.1. He immediately hopped off the driving seat of the truck and signaled Frenzied Sword, who had been waiting online for two whole days. Han Xiao remembered that the VR-Capsule of this era had yet to perfect the body analysis and nutrients-balancing functions.

No wonder he is a professional player. Guy’s got great kidneys.

“Let’s go,” Han Xiao said.

“Okay…” Frenzied Sword was confused, but following Han Xiao would never be a bad choice.

The pitch-black truck had a layer of SUI anti-radar paint coated over it. Han Xiao came up with this using the basic theory of Spatial Sensing, and it had been effective at reducing the chance of being discovered by radars.

The second the armies from Stardragon and Germinal met each other, a massive war would break out; that would be the perfect time for a third party to take advantage of the situation.

First, they needed to find a suitable hideout to snipe from. It needed to be some distance away from the battlefield. Han Xiao had found a spot long ago, and it was a cliff along the mountainous range in Cloud Valley. That location was perfect for aiming at the barren fields beyond the forest. This meant that the moment the Germinal Organization’s troops stepped out from the jungle, he could start firing away.

The only problem was that he had to arrive at the mountain range fast and avoid getting detected by the army radars in the process. The painted layer could not guarantee evading detection, so there were risks of getting exposed. However, Han Xiao was not too worried because by the time Germinal’s troops drew near, the army in the valley would be too occupied to be bothered with him.

The truck sped into the valley jungle.

…

“Commander Huang! The radar is showing a suspicious target!” shouted a soldier in the Stardragon Strategic Department tent.

Huang Qiuming strode over to the radar display screen, which was showing a flashing light entering Cloud Valley region. The signal was inconsistent and weak, and it seemed that the target had a certain level of anti-radar capabilities. It only showed up because Stardragon army was using an army radar this time, which was extremely powerful.

“Only one target?” Huang Qiuming’s eyebrows were tightly knitted together. He felt that it might be a Germinal scout, but the location of target was very far-off from the path that Germinal was taking.

“Whatever it is, just deal with it first.” Huang Qiuming did not want any unwanted surprise elements to hinder the plan, and he was about to send out a stand-by troop when all the radar detection screens blacked out simultaneously!

“What’s happening‽” Huang Qiuming shouted.

Soldiers rushed to recalibrate but to no avail.

“Reporting to you, Sir. The radars have been deactivated by very strong electromagnetic radiation, which is coming from the direction of the Germinal army. We found the Germinal army’s tracks three minutes ago, and the preliminary conclusion is that they have some sort of advanced device that can destroy radars!”

“They want to take away our sight. Activate the spare radars, mute their electrical signals. Make sure they are powered on randomly once every five to twelve seconds.” Huang Qiuming seemed composed and quickly issued his commands. As for the suspicious target, he could only leave it aside. It was more critical to deal with the huge Germinal army at this point in time.

Whoosh!

Suddenly, a screeching sound could be heard coming from the horizon.

A dozen mid-range missiles were steadily approaching Stardragon camps, leaving fiery trails behind them. These missiles suddenly split into countless bullet heads in midair and started raining down.

…

At the same time, the Germinal army emerged from the jungle region on the edge of Cloud Valley.

Ugar’s face was dead serious. The vehicles were carrying anti-radar equipment, created by the Germinal Organization, that was still in the experimental stages. It was capable of catching radar detection and emitting strong long-distance EM radiation waves that could destroy radars that were in use, all while simultaneously detecting the exact location of the enemies’ radars.

Ugar decided that he had found the enemies’ base, so he ordered for the beehive-type missile assault vehicle to launch attacks, firing the cluster munition missiles, which was a mature weapon that had already gone past the experimental stage.

What he did not know was that he had indirectly done Han Xiao a favor by destroying Stardragon’s radars.

Surely, such attacks could not injure the Stardragon army. Indeed, the Stardragon army aimed and fired their missile intercepting machine guns toward the cluster ammunition, creating explosions and intercepting the bullets in mid-air.

Both sides were ready for the battle. The only question here was: who was more prepared?

“Enemies will soon reactivate their radars. We don’t have much time left; we need to launch attacks now!”

Ugar commanded in a dead serious tone, “Bomb-detecting team, you go first!”

With the vehicles carrying portable bomb-detectors leading the way, the Germinal troops were able to quickly detect where Stardragon had planted bombs and detonate them with their machine gun. Germinal was steadily and safely advancing.

This time, when the anti-radar equipment discovered signals from Stardragon’s radars, it was unable to destroy the radars as Stardragon’s radar would switch off before anything could be done to it. Ugar knew that the real fight would be starting soon.

The helicopters’ rotors were roaring as they flew close to the ground. The Germinal troops had to advance against the merciless firing.

Among the flames and explosions, Ugar commanded in fury, “Fire the graphite missiles!”

A handful of graphite missiles soared through the air, landing among the helicopters. Graphite missiles could cause local short-circuit, hitting the helicopter squad hard, causing many to malfunction. The enemy firepower was reduced significantly.

“Mihawks, after your troop gets out from the jungle, lead the assault troops to fight the enemies head-on! Your task is very important; you have to distract the enemies!” Ugar spoke into the walkie talkie.

Mihawks was sitting in one of the transport vehicles, and he replied with a light grunt. Mihawks was extremely well-built, and he was a master of martial arts. His strategic task was to lead a few teams of elite fighters to assault the enemy camps with bombs. His agile combat style, coupled with bulletproof vest, allowed him to dive smoothly through the bullet storm.

Superhumans were mainly assigned to assault and assassinate on the battlefields.

At the Stardragon base, Huang Qiuming stared at the Germinal army expressionlessly as they trod through the jungle. “Artillery, get ready; armored vehicles, stand by; elite team, prepare to fight the enemy assault team!”

Stardragon’s elite team consisted of the strongest and the best soldiers, including Superhumans who were biologically equipped with skills to fight. Stardragon was very prepared for this battle.

This large-scale battle scene left the logistic team leaders—Sleepy Winter, Flash Fried Rice, and Rainy Kim—in awe. Judging from the intense atmosphere, hazy smoke, and deafening explosions, they knew that the battle was too high level for them to join in.

“Thought I was going to die when the missiles flew over just now.” Twinkle Fried Rice heaved a sigh of relief.

Sleepy Winter laughed bitterly. “Let’s just stick to delivering resources. No way we can handle any battle tasks.”

Rainy Kim’s expression was calm. With a hint of determination, she said, “I want to give it a shot.”

“We only have a few handguns, what can we do?”

“I want to try.”

“Forget it. If we go, we will just court our own deaths!”

“I. Want. To. Try.”

Sleepy Winter and Twinkle Fried Rice made eye contact and relented. “Okay, okay. You’re the boss; you are the prettiest. We’ll follow you. Let’s go together.”

Expressionless, Rainy Kim started walking right away after getting their agreement, and the other two could not do anything but keep up behind her.

…

It was a party of gunfire and explosions. Han Xiao slowly drove his car to the target location on the cliff, where he could see the grand fireworks in the distance in the jungle.

There were spider detectors hidden in the jungle. Some of them had been destroyed, but some lived and were loyally updating the battle situation for Han Xiao. Judging from their location, Germinal troops were going to get out of the jungle and into the open fields very soon.

In the distance, on the Tedramira River, explosions appeared on the surface of the water as well. Han Xiao took out his binoculars, and he could see that the Germinal ships were also getting attacked, and the attack was worse than the one they were facing in the valley.

Germinal ships had yet to reach the straits, and they were already getting bombed heavily by fighter jets. The missiles rained down like a storm, and the machine gun interceptor array would not stop even for a second. Huge fiery explosions lit up the night sky and seemed just like fireworks.

“It’s time to get ready.”

Han Xiao took out a few foldable battery ports, came up with a task with decent rewards, and issued it to Frenzied Sword.

Tasks like setting up traps and stuff were obviously for these fresh, young players.

As Frenzied Sword rushed off to set up the traps, Han Xiao took out a mechanical neck brace and wore it around the back of his neck. It was a soft layer made from unknown material. He turned it on, and a numbing electric shock started to spread from his neck to his brain. Han Xiao shivered slightly and felt adrenaline rush through his body.

_____________________

You have entered [Excitation] mode.

All attributes +5%

Duration: 20 minutes

_____________________

This machine was called [Electromagnetic Pulse Controller]. It was a special piece of equipment that used EM waves to adjust biological conditions and improve the user’s attributes. Han Xiao had gotten this blueprint from talent fusing by accident.

After getting ready, with all the needed attributes turned on, Han Xiao lay down with his Ghost sniper rifle in hand and the Red Falcon lying next to him. His eyes were sharp as eagles, and they were glued to the battlefield.

BOOM!

An area of trees was blown up. The Germinal troops had finally made it out of the forest.

“Come on, baby.”

Han Xiao narrowed his eyes and aimed.

“Airstrike!”

Stardragon’s missile-carrying vehicles fired mercilessly at the Germinal troops. The missiles approached with high-pitched screeches, adding to the heavy atmosphere

Ugar did not panic; he commanded the troops to close up the gaps in their formation, with the vehicles carrying multi-barreled machine guns at the front, forming an assault formation. This reduced the area of target, and the machine guns destroyed all the missiles in the area in midair, forming a vacuum, allowing the troops to smoothly sail through the explosion waves.

Huang Qiuming paused.

He had just received news that the battle at Tedramira River was at a heated stage; the strategic team had primarily marked out a few locations where Germinal teams could have gathered. The strategic team advised him to change from the original plan to use Plan B. Huang Qiuming made some rearrangements and instructed the interception ring to leave a gap.

At the same time, Rainy Kim and the others made it to the front line. Large number of soldiers gathered with proper attire and equipment, armored vehicles had their engines running, and elite soldiers were standing by.

“How are we going to join in the fight?” Sleepy Winter asked helplessly.

Rainy Kim frowned and thought for a while before nodding. “I don’t know.”

Then why are you nodding‽ Sleepy Winter wanted to bang his head against the floor.

Twinkle Fried Rice suddenly pointed to the battlefield and shouted, “Someone is coming! Oh sh*t! It looks like a high-level player!”

The other two turned to look in the same direction. They watched as a buff man led a team of well-armed soldiers on heavy-armored motorbikes to separate from the main troop. They sped toward the Stardragon base while smoothly dodging all the bullets.

…

Mihawks dodged a series of attacks on his heavy-armored bike, but he inadvertently triggered a mine, and his bike was blown apart. He began to run, at a speed almost as fast as the motorbikes, through the bullets. His task was to deliver the bomb that he was carrying to the Stardragon base.

Superhumans usually fought in assault teams on the battlefields. Mihawks could see that the enemies had sent their elite teams toward them.

He concentrated expressionlessly and adjusted his inner energy to save up for later.

Suddenly, Mihawks instinctively felt that there was imminent danger, he reacted extremely quickly, pushed hard with his legs, and was going to change direction.

But he was not fast enough.

A bullet with blue light trailing behind it hit Mihawks’ neck from the side and caused a huge splatter of blood. He was critically injured. He groaned and spat out mouthfuls of blood. There was absolutely no cover on the fields; his only choice was to keep running forward, but his wound caused him to slow down significantly.

A combat fighter, who could fight through gunfire, had been critically injured by one shot!

Huang Qiuming was shocked.

“That was not us. Who’s the sniper‽”

He remembered the suspicious target that had been detected at the start and felt that this shot seems really familiar. He pondered for two seconds, and his eyes widened.

Only a monster sniper could critically damage a superhuman—the Black Phantom that only recently had become involved in underground activities.

Bullet with blue light, it must be him!

What is he doing here? Why help us?

“Commander, what do we do now?” the vice-captain asked.

Huang Qiuming considered and made up his mind decisively “He doesn’t look like enemy. Don’t care about him; focus on fighting Germinal.”

Usually, snipers’ skills would be of very limited use in this kind of battle, but when super snipers like Black Phantom came into the picture, it would be a completely different story.

The Stardragon did not know why Black Phantom was helping them, but needless to say, this helped them greatly!

…

Ugar was furious.

“One shot to critically injure Mihawks, that must be that damned Black Phantom! Not long ago, he got Freire’s team too. This monster must have joined the fight at Stardragon’s request!

Ugar felt immense pressure when he thought of Black Phantom’s kill statistics that had been circulating on the Dark Web. He had been crowned a ‘Superhuman killer’—way too dangerous. Even though Ugar was stronger than Mihawks, he did not want to have a taste of Black Phantom’s strength.

Mistaking Han Xiao for someone on Stardragon’s side, Ugar angrily commanded, “Team 3, locate and terminate the sniper. Take the test subjects with you; you must at least divert his attention away from us!”

One armored vehicle left the main troop and sped toward Han Xiao’s location.

…

_____________________

You have dealt 1,297 actual damage to Mihawks (LV 40)!

You have critically damaged Mihawks!

_____________________

Mihawks has entered a weakened state. All attributes have decrease 50% for 10 seconds.

_____________________

Wow, this guy is quite tanky. Han Xiao was surprised. This shot’s theoretical damage was 1,600. Taking combat fighters’ body attributes into consideration, it would be about 1,300. This had knocked out Bai Jin, who was LV 48, in one hit, but Mihawks was still up and running. Combat fighters are indeed very tanky.

This time [Flaming Will] was not too good; it only buffed his attack by 148%. His Ghost sniper rifle had been maxed out in all its attributes after the strengthening. None of the Experience earned had gone to waste. Han Xiao either saved the Experience or used it to level up skills, talents, and equipment, which were the key to having strong firepower!

After his first shot, Han Xiao activated a new task.

_____________________

[Tedramira River Warfare (Misc.)]: You have joined in the battle between Stardragon and the Germinal Organization. Since you have chosen your side, see what you can do for your allies.

_____________________

This was a class C mission. The player had to kill Germinal soldiers and prevent them from escaping. Reward would be based on task performance.

The reward Experience shouldn’t be less than three hundred thousand. Han Xiao was satisfied that he could earn Experience by being a busybody.

Han Xiao fired single shots at Mihawks, who could not escape the fate of being swallowed by the explosions and shots. His death was tragic.

This marked the end of a combat fighter who was even stronger than Pan Kuang.

Combat fighters are great in close quarters against few people, but if you want to deal with armies, even if it’s not technologically advanced, you must at least be half as strong as Bennett, Han Xiao thought to himself.

Combat fighting makes use of energy. Everyone wants to be a hero, and combat fighting allows fighters to dominate whenever and wherever, without the need of weapons.

However, even though this style of fighting is very strong, one must have gone through the necessary growth. C class marks this line, the level cap for players of in the 1.0 version.

…

The snipers had greatly weakened the assault team, which had been caught by the counter troops from Stardragon. The assault plan had barely started and was already failing terribly under Han Xiao’s intervention.

At this moment, he noticed that a troop had veered off from the Germinal main troop and was moving toward him. He changed his target and started firing using the Red Falcon sniper gun. Because Stardragon was also present, Han Xiao intentionally avoided using the high-explosive bullets.

A sniper rifle could only deal limited damage to armored cars, so Han Xiao activated the portable battery that had been set up beforehand.

Three hundred meters in front of the Germinal troop, four portable batteries transformed into small multi-barreled machine guns. They fired rapidly, and some of the armored vehicles exploded on the spot. The remaining soldiers had to spread out and launch counterattacks on the portable batteries.

Once the team spread out, the portable battery was a lot less effective because it had to rotate and aim instead of aiming at one spot.

The portable batteries did not have defensive mechanisms, even if Han Xiao used platinum as the surface material, and two out of four were blown to bits very quickly. Overall, the result was good. More than half of the vehicles were destroyed, and the enemies were significantly weakened.

At this moment, the troops did something that Han Xiao did not expect. The opened the rear of one of the armored vehicles. Three humanoids jumped out of the car and ran toward the portable batteries at a speed faster than car. They looked really strange, and Frenzied Sword was taken aback.

“What in the world are those things?” Frenzied Sword wanted to use detection on them but was informed that he was too far away.

The three humanoids were well-built and expressionless. There were large amounts of metallic joints and structures inside the arms, legs, and spinal regions. The metal was fixed into the bones at joints, such as in their knees and elbows. As they were running, the metallic joints would have blood seeping out. There was no doubt that every movement would inflict great pain, but the trio seemed emotionless as if they could not feel any pain.

Moreover, there was a layer of thin armor growing from the skin of the humanoids.

Han Xiao recognized the humanoids the second he saw them.

Germinal’s super soldier project has been brought forward a year?

Han Xiao raised his eyebrows.

This project was originally intended to create humanoids with battle potential. Through exoskeletons cybernetics, they improved test-subjects’ physical capabilities by experimentation. Through the pure strength of the technology, it supported their physical body, and as a result, warriors with the battle power of super-soldiers could be mass-produced.

However, the technology was still in its infancy. The process was very painful because the exoskeleton had to be directly connected to the nerves, and various mechanical parts had to be implanted into the body to strengthen the physique.

Only experimented Valkyrie specimens whose mental resilience was strengthened could withstand such modifications. At the end of it all, their sense of pain would fade away, and they would only move on instinct.

By the whole of Galaxy’s standards, it was a very undeveloped modification technique and had already been eliminated long ago. But on Aquamarine, the Germinal Organization was able to develop the technique further by neglecting the physical condition of the test-subjects.

The exoskeleton was not only a piece of equipment that could be worn externally, but it could also be infused as a part of the body. Doing so would connect one’s nerves to the armor, giving the person greater mobility. However, the Germinal Organization had yet to develop the technology to maturity. By experimentation, they only managed to develop to infant stages of the technology.

Aquamarine’s major players each held one or a few advanced skills, and [Nerve Integration] was an advancement knowledge that was in Germinal’s hands.

The advanced skill that Han Xiao had learned was only [Advanced Material Composition]. For the players on Aquamarine to obtain the advancement knowledge, they had to have a large contribution after entering the camp. Han Xiao set his sights to the very distant future. Advancement knowledge was very rare on Aquamarine, but in the long term, one could also spend some Aquamarine dollars to obtain it easily. If he were unable to obtain other advancement knowledge from Aquamarine, there would still be other opportunities to do so in the future.

In the original plan, these super soldiers had special effects, but the three experimental super soldiers before him were not yet complete. The bodies even had a large amount of heat armor equipped, and these three were only using the external exoskeletons to strengthen their physiques, which were also incomplete.

Looks like Germinal’s experimental project hasn’t matured yet. Exoskeletons… Come to think of it, when I was escaping the lab, I left a Lightweight Mechanical Arm behind. Seems like Germinal has been using it to experiment.

Han Xiao’s eyes lit up. Such a thought was not without reason. The three test-subjects’ mechanical arms resembled the Lightweight Mechanical Arm. They were very sturdy and even had extendable golden shields embedded that could block shots fired by the portable batteries.

The three test-subjects separated from the vehicles and started spreading out the firepower from the portable batteries. The three successfully drew close to the portable battery, bombarding it with countless attacks using their fists wrapped in exoskeleton armor. The exoskeleton that was rooted to the joints released smoke. As they used more power, they instantly destroyed the portable battery, causing it to fall to its side as it cracked open.

After taking down the remaining portable batteries, the three sprinted toward Han Xiao, each step moving them seven to eight meters ahead, with an overwhelming killing intent completely directed toward him.

Han Xiao’s gaze remained unfazed as he pulled out his tablet, quickly unleashing another hidden weapon.

The trailer shook violently as two Second-Generation Rovers rushed out to Han Xiao’s side. Instantly, they activated [Furious Fusillade]. With both hands, the machine gun released its rounds, as their chests shot out mini rocket missiles, ravaging the three test-subjects. The damage was dealt heavily but was almost entirely blocked by the exoskeleton armor, with only its endurance dropping.

The three test-subjects’ stats were also exposed.

_____________________

Based on your level, you acquired the following information:

_____________________

Super-Soldier Experimental Body (042)

Level: 40

Classes:

– [Special Agent] Level10

– [Low-level Machine Equipment] Level30 (Endurance to Health Conversion Ratio 1:10)

Attributes: 51 S trength, 54 Dexterity, 70 (80) Endurance, 25 Intelligence, 8 Mystery, 4 Charisma, 6 Luck

Energy: 0

Energy Rank: 500

Grade: E

Health Points: 534/650

Status: [Violent Modifications]: Health Point -150, Endurance -10

Abilities:

– Low-level Spiritual Resilience: +3 Psychological Resistance

– Effective Training: +100 Health Points

– Immunity to Pain: Injuries do not affect combat ability

Skills:

– Basic Close-Quarter Combat Level7

– Basic Shooting Level5

– Capture Level3

– Precise Shooting Level1

Equipment:

_____________________

Crane Exoskeleton Arms:

Lightweight Mechanical Arms, equipped with extendable golden shield.

Grade: White

Basic Stats

– Damage: 32–45

– Defense: 20–24

– Power Level: 45

– Endurance: 250

Ability effect: +8 Strength

_____________________

Predator Power Legs:

Lightweight Cyborg Legs increase sprinting speed.

Grade: Gray

Basic Stats

– Damage: 27–31

– Defense: 15–18

– Power Level: 53

– Endurance: 230

Ability effect: +8 Dexterity

_____________________

P-2 Embedded Armor Inserts:

Implanted lightweight gold in the skin, provides some defensive ability.

Grade: Gray

Basic Stats

– Defense: 15–20

– Endurance: 500

_____________________

The three test-subjects’ stats were considered extremely low for LV 40. With such a high level but low-level stats, it meant that they had no potential.

Individually, their health points were very low, but the defense and endurance provided by the exoskeleton was able to reduce the damage to the body to a large extent. Han Xiao did some calculations and realized that this set of exoskeleton armor provided 1,460 endurance points, and nearly 100 defense points. This was the effect due to the equipment. If they only looked at the health points, one would think that it was just a useless clothed armor.

The Second-Generation Rovers fired several rounds, which only took off a fifth of their health bar.

Han Xiao realized that Experimental Body (044) was actually at LV 45, and his stats were at an even higher level that his two counterparts. Perhaps he was the leader of the three.

Meanwhile, Germinal’s vehicle team circled back. With the two rovers’ firepower, it was difficult to monitor both sides. Han Xiao immediately made a decision.

“Take the briefcase with the red-triangle marking from the trailer. I have something I want you to do!”

Frenzied Sword instantly carried out the orders, carrying the briefcase in hand. Inside it was a bomb with massive destructive power. Han Xiao quickly scribbled down the task and tossed it over.

_____________________

[Brave Sacrifice]: Take your unfulfilled dreams and explode into glorious sparks!

_____________________

Frenzied Sword unconsciously gulped down his saliva.

“Go for it, youngster. I’ll leave the stage to you,” Han Xiao casually remarked as he continued to barrage the test-subject with attacks.

“I… I got it…” Frenzied Sword clenched his jaw. The rewards from the task were extremely attractive and could definitely make up for the death penalty.

The strengthened Red Falcon released a series of shots, leaving bullet holes in the three experimental subjects’ bodies. Han Xiao’s aggressive abilities had already reached the maximum level. Through the cracks in the exoskeleton, he dealt damage straight to the flesh. His attacks were on point, restricting the three test-subjects.

Soon, No. 042 was shot in his vitals by the barrage of attacks. His health bar receded to zero as he fell to the ground, dead. The other two, however, were nonchalant to the death of their ally, continuing to charge forth.

On the other side, the other military truck closed in rapidly toward them. Han Xiao redirected the Second-Generation Rover toward it, opening fire against several military vehicles. The tightly packed firing left red streaks amid them, as though it was a rainbow that linked them together.

The rover’s endurance rapidly fell. Seeing that they could not withstand the attacks, Han Xiao commanded the rover to dive into the team and execute the self-destruct function. The enemy, unable to react in time, was enveloped in striking flames that swallowed up several vehicles as a series of explosions ensued.

Both sides were decimated at once.

With the loss of two Second-Generation Rovers, Han Xiao remained unfazed. Technology-based warfare was just like that, money-burning… But he was indeed generous. If it was another player, they definitely could not bear to do such a thing. However, Han Xiao had all the money he needed.

The sniper rifle had a limit to its firing speed. Finally, both test-subject were within fifty meters of him.

Frenzied Sword remembered the contents of the task. Steadying his heart, he leaped forward, lunging onto No. 043 as a fist pierced through his chest. He spat out a mouthful of blood and clenched his teeth as he activated the bomb in the briefcase.

Boom!

A mini mushroom-shaped cloud rose up into the skies. The sweltering wave of hot air mixed with dust exploded, and the fully-equipped Han Xiao was splattered with dirt.

Through the smoke, the debilitated No. 044 Experimental Body rushed over again. In the moment when the explosion took place, No. 043 was ahead of him in the rush and exploded into nothingness. No. 044 immediately dropped to the ground and was still able to move as his gaze oozed with bloodlust.

With only the last ten meters left, in a second, he would be able to lodge his steel fist into that foul sniper!

At that moment, [Flaming Will] finished its cooldown!

Han Xiao suddenly threw aside Red Falcon, reloaded the Ghost sniper as he activated [Overload], reinforcing it with [Flaming Will], and fired.

The bullet, with blue light trailing behind it, disappeared from sight as it shot straight through No. 044’s head. Blood spurted out like an arrow, leaving a thin, long streak of blood on No. 044.

No. 044 took several steps forward without losing momentum. Suddenly, his body tilted, falling to Han Xiao’s feet. Just one more step, and he would have been able to reach Han Xiao. His still eyes had a trace of unwillingness.

This scene was far too familiar to Han Xiao. Fighting with a Mechanic, distance was always the determining factor between a win or a loss. Many other enemies had fallen right before reaching their target, just like this.

It’s a shame. Even if you managed to engage me in close-quarter combat, you wouldn’t have lived.

Han Xiao shook his head. There were still many cards that he had not shown yet. These immature test-subjects were far from his match.

_____________________

[Second Advancement]

Current Progress: 1/3

_____________________

The battle this time could be considered an easy fight. Mass-produced assembly line soldiers were the easiest enemies for him to take on.

There’s still two more.

Han Xiao narrowed his eyes. He only needed two more higher-level kills before he could increase his rank. The interface displayed a sea of Experience, and he was looking forward to advancing his skills.

Frenzied Sword sacrificed his virgin death. Ten seconds later, he was revived next to the trailer. Looking at the quest rewards and enemy kill experience, he could not hold back his grin.

The Germinal team that had come to intercept him had been eliminated. The heated battle grounds were already at the pinnacle of its battle. Stardragon’s and Germinal’s foot soldiers had both been massacred. The battle was at a standstill and in a complete mess. Han Xiao spared a few glances and decidedly knew that he would no longer get a chance to interfere.

After contemplating for two seconds, he quickly made a decision. He beckoned the grinning Frenzied Sword onto the car.

The vehicle continued to travel onward, circling around the heat of the battle, and headed in the direction of the Tedramira River.

…

In the battlegrounds, Sleepy Winter taunted, “Did I see that right? Is that Frenzied Sword‽”

Han Xiao’s battle was very conspicuous. They saw Frenzied Sword’s ID floating above his head and got a shock. Twinkle Fried Rice was at a loss; even the cold, prideful Rainy Kim had her mouth wide open.

Sleepy Winter remembered that even at the internal examinations, Frenzied Sword rejected his goodwill and did not enter the Stardragon Army. So, how could he be on the battleground now? And by self-destructing, he defeated a high-level monster; they saw all of it happen!

“If my eyes didn’t play tricks on me, that black-clothed person he’s following… that was the Black Phantom, who appeared a while ago at Big Horn Mountain,” Rainy Kim suddenly said.

“Are you sure about that?” Sleepy Winter asked.

“I recorded the entire battle just now. Just watch it and you’ll know,” Twinkle Fried Rice said.

Sleepy Winter seemed to be a little depressed. Frenzied Sword and the three of them had started on the same foot, but now he seemed to have gotten way ahead of them. It made Sleepy Winter feel a little pressured… and curious as well.

No wonder he didn’t want to join us during the internal beta. What exactly happened to Frenzied Sword? Why is he with Black Phantom?

The battle was raging on the Tedramira River.

Hesla was responsible for securing the waters. A naval formation was stationed at the estuary, and a huge portion of them were battleships loaded with large-caliber artillery. The Germinal Navy was bombarded from a distance of over ten kilometers away. The cannons firepower could reach ten over miles, piercing through the air at high speed, forming a parabola in the night sky. This brought significant damage to the Germinal fleet.

The destroyers in the formation launched several homing missiles at the beginning of the battle, but they were intercepted by Germinal Fleet’s cannon in the air. They were now useless. All they could do was maintain the defense line.

The command ship, Scyther, positioned itself in the center of the formation.

“The enemy is roughly twelve kilometers away from the water mines near the exit of the sea. Don’t give the enemy any time to break out of the trap.” Scyther’s Admiral assigned the tasks in a swift and decisive manner. “Deer, Carp and Shark units have been preloaded with torpedoes. Await Germinal’s entry and then fire away! Feed them full with a round of firepower.

“As for the offense formation, maintain the intensity of firepower; no change. Sonar scanners take note of the surrounding waters; there could be a chance for Germinal reinforcements to appear. Inform the Stardragon’s men to release some infantry units whenever necessary. Delay the Germinal Navy’s time…

“Transfer this message to Stardragon’s Commander: We need their assault troops to be on standby!”

On the other side, the troops that were deployed to fight the battle surrounded and harassed the Germinal fleet. Using bombs as their main form of attack, this caused quite some trouble for the Germinal fleet. There were bound to be some lucky cannon balls that escaped their intercepting fire, and when this happened, three of their ships sank. As the fleet’s main purpose was to evacuate, their weaponry was not sufficient to wage a war. They were not even able to lock on to the high-speed battleships, let alone trying to deal any damage.

However, Germinal still had a plan of their own!

A fighter jet poured another wave of ammunition, and while the pilot was preparing to make another round, a shroud of dark fog exploded around him all of a sudden. A figure appeared out of thin air. It was a demon with dark eyeshadow and ear studs, with a sharp blade in his hand. He quickly sliced through the pilot’s throat, splashing blood upon the window.

The fighter jet crashed down in the water with the pilot’s corpse. The demon smiled coldly and disappeared, leaving only a dash of black fog.

Teleportation ability! Germinal Organization executive officer, Renette.

…

Hila stepped onto the bow of the ship. The wind was blowing through that red hair of hers. She took in a deep breath, raising both her hands as though worshipping the sun. Gray air slowly flowed through from the fresh dead bodies in the battlefield. It gathered from all directions and tingled Hila’s five senses.

Her face flushed as if she had breathed in God’s medicine. She closed her eyes and then opened them even wider than before. An invisible sound wave rose from her lungs out to her throat, and she screamed.

“Ah—”

It was like a ghost’s piercing scream.

The eyes of the pilots in the sky burst, their ears bleeding. Their brains were shaken into a state of confusion. The pilots fell one after another like broken kites, crashing onto the ground and water. They were fried into balls of fire.

A no-fly zone had formed in the sky, and the fighter jet formation had single-handedly been taken down by Hila! The remaining fighter jets received orders and hurriedly retreated!

This was the horrible threat of military operations. They required people to operate the machines. If the operator was too weak, Hila’s killing threat could disrupt their mind. Aquamarine’s technological advancements did not hold much against Hila’s mental disruption skills.

Only a few reconnaissance drones continued to track and observe the sky.

Renette teleported to Hila’s side, with one hand painfully rubbing his head. His nose was bleeding, and he had a dark, gloomy expression. “Were you trying to kill me as well‽”

Hila gave him a cold shoulder, refusing to answer. Renette could only swallow this breath, not daring to provoke her.

In the command room, Lin Yu did not really pay much attention to the battle. He looked at his watch and whispered to himself, “It’s almost time.”

The Germinal Organization’s infantry had broken through the defense line and was now rapidly approaching their intended destination. Stardragon’s army executed according to plan; they opened the gates to allow water to gush in. They wanted it to be a naval battle. Hila would take over the confrontation after the infantry units had boarded their ships. These infantry units would just be useless in a naval battle; they would also become a burden. They were reducing their death toll but weakening themselves too.

There was a new type of missile up on the destroyer ship that could cruise and split and avoid attempts to intercept it. The very moment Germinal’s fleet and their infantry linked up, they would fire, and one round of it would cause major deaths to Germinal’s fleet. The Germinal troops would then begin to flee. Division 13’s ambush units would then board the ship and slaughter everyone aboard.

That was the next step of the plan.

However, in reality, things never went according to plan. Accidents were bound to happen.

Dududu!

The piercing sirens upon Hesla’s command ship sounded. The radar detected dozens of targets approaching at high speed underwater.

Ghostly torpedo!

Where did it come from!

It was too late to intercept it. A warship near the seaport exploded, fire spurting everywhere.

Hesla’s high-ranking officers had been paying close attention to the battle. The naval formations made them extremely furious.

“Anti-sonar submarines‽ How did the signal not sound anything at all? How far is the enemy’s range‽”

These could only be Germinal’s submarines. Where did they come from? Could it be that Germinal had planned this all along, to withdraw some troops from Andrea? Or was there a secret base on an island nearby‽

No matter the reason, the enemy had reinforcements, and they now needed to deal with the unexpected situation!

“Where are our submarines‽” Hesla’s officers roared. They had planned for several submarines in the vicinity as backup and immediately activated them to search for the enemy’s submarines.

The navy suffered heavy losses and were busy tending to emergency repairs. They could not proceed with the missile strikes. This caused strategic disruptions, and the situation was getting out of hand.

Germinal’s fleet took this chance. They changed their formation. The ship sailed to the shore, opened up, and lowered the slats, providing a bridge for the ground troops to cross. The edge of the stern dragged along the shore of the beach. This method came with a huge risk of beaching the ship. Other ships would throw a hook to link the ship. That way, even if the ship became stuck, it could be pulled back to sea anytime.

The root of Lin Yu’s confidence came from their submarine team. They were reinforcements that Germinal’s forces had called for early on. They relied on this ambush, breaking Hesla’s blockade and strategic formation!

In order to break through Stardragon’s ambush, Ugar had lost more than half of the troops, and when this opportunity arose, he immediately ordered the team to speed up and rush toward the barge ship.

Stardragon’s assault troops, which were on standby, became anxious. They followed Hesla’s plan to launch a round of missiles first before rushing up. If there was no such link, rushing up would simply be equivalent to commiting suicide!

“What shall we do?”

If they waited any longer and the Germinal Organization’s forces manage to link up successfully, there would be no more chances.

The assault troops were all from Stardragon’s Division 13. They were all specialists and elites. They could hear their superior’s command. It was only one word.

“Forward!”

There was no hesitation. The assault teams rushed forward. Germinal’s Navy fired a round of missiles at once, and the ambush troops forced their way through the gunfire. Fireworks lit up beside. Their comrades fell and exploded, but they remained unfazed. They were fearless.

As a soldier, they always followed orders. Even if it was a magma in front of them, they would still have to jump. It was with this steel-like will that Stardragon stood out from hundreds of countries since the beginning, becoming one of the last six winners.

Wearing his power suit, Zhang Wei stood at the front of the battleship as the barrier. Lambert dealt damage by sniping.

This assault boat did not only have Zhang Wei’s team of four—as Lin Yao was not taking part in battle—there were still ten elite fighters.

The battleship surged forward through the waves, surfing through the onslaught of bullets and missiles before it collided into the Germinal ship with a loud bang. The infiltration team jumped aboard and began exchanging blows intensely with the Germinal soldiers.

The infiltration team’s attack strategy only had two goals. The first was to massacre the barge’s attack forces and destroy the land vehicles that were on the boat. The second was to take control of the boat. As Hesla’s backup troop did not arrive as planned, the infiltration team was not in a good position. They were falling into a difficult battle.

The Germinal Organization’s plans were affected, causing their progress to slow down. The Germinal executive officers set out to counter Stardragon’s infiltration team.

Zhang Wei’s team was struggling to get the upper hand on the barge. Suddenly, a strong gale came rushing over without warning, like a ghost. The team’s internal alarms rang on high alert as they hurried to dodge it. However, they still could not dodge the shockwaves of the wind. A strong wave of dizziness overcame them.

Clenching their teeth, they looked toward the direction where the enemy was standing. There, they saw Hila whom they had once crossed swords before.

Hila had a cold expression. She still remembered she had once fought the Stardragon soldiers. Last time, she had taken a small loss because of them. Remembering that, her killing intent was more murderous than before. Both of her hands emitted a dim, gray light, as if they were balls of mysterious, sinister energy that could suck them in. Furthermore, it was continuously growing in size. It would be hard to imagine how frightening the next blow could be.

Hou Yue had a pained expression on his face as he held up both his guns with the intent to aim. But with a light sneer from Hila, her voice carried forth an overwhelming psychological suppression from the Necromastery ability. As if he had taken a hard blow, Hou Yue staggered backward as his nose spurted blood.

Hila did not even spare him a look as she turned her gaze to Li Yalin. Her killing intent was clear. This was the special female assassin that had used the Lightweight Mechanical Arm; she definitely knew Zero’s whereabouts!

Li Yalin had a look of steely determination. She pulled out her Foldable Machete as she lunged toward Hila fearlessly. As the pugilist in the team, she had to initiate battles.

Hopefully I can last the first bout. Li Yalin quietly clenched her jaw. As long as she could hold out till Hila’s next attack, she had confidence that she could close in to restrict Hila’s movements such that she would not have time to release another one of those psychological attacks. Even though Hila’s abilities were strong, she was only using the attack on a superficial level, and every release required build-up to release the skill.

“Naive.” Hila remained expressionless. Flipping both her palms, she was about to use the highly-concentrated Necromancer’s abilities to shock Lin Yalin into an idiot.

However, the next second, a sudden large wave of power surged toward the side of her ribs, causing her to fly off sideways as she collided into the side of an SUV, and her ribs throbbed with pain.

Hila was in so much pain that her face turned ashen. With a deep heave, the Necromancer’s power on her hand suddenly dissipated. In her shock, she turned to look at the source of the attack.

There was a van driving along the shore, staying alongside the boat. From the driver’s window seat, a sniper was hinged on the window as a black-gloved palm held onto this deadly weapon with its muzzle releasing thick smoke.

Han Xiao cocked the gun, and another smoking bullet was released from the muzzle. He sat in the main driver’s seat, and the smart-chip system in the van began driving on autopilot. Driving at a constant speed, it drove alongside Germinal’s boat. When they reached the valley, he had spotted traces that Stardragon might let Germinal troops off the hook. So, Han Xiao drove to the lake beforehand; his target to capture the Germinal executive officers.

He spotted Hila in an instant, then he saw Zhang Wei and the others. Slightly taken aback, he did not expect this coincidence. Seeing his former teammate fall into danger, Han Xiao did not say anything else before pulling out Red Falcon and firing. Hila’s defensive air barrier was weakened to a large extent, and its penetration abilities dissipated, turning into momentum that pushed her away.

The interface displayed Hila’s abilities. After one year, Hila had leveled up from LV 30 to LV 40, and Han Xiao was at the same level as her. He could see her stats, and her two strongest stats were Mystery and Intelligence. Her abilities were described as well.

_____________________

[Necromancer’s Power]: Dictating death and capturing souls.

Potential Rating: S

_____________________

Outsiders could only see the description of the ability. Only the master of the ability could see the specific effects and the extent that it was developed.

Through her basic knowledge, where she used her genes to develop her ability, more applications for her techniques could be obtained.

Even though Hila’s ability potential was high, she was only at LV 40 now. Her strength had yet to be completely used to its fullest potential, but Han Xiao did not have any interest in Hila’s battling methods. Hila’s special abilities seemed to lean toward attacking, but actually, it was actually a versatile ability. From Hila’s abilities, he saw several textbook specialties as well.

_____________________

[High-speed Fusion]: Grim Reaper’s power is able to heal flesh wounds—Under regular circumstances, +500% health regeneration speed. While using energy, +1000%–2000% health regeneration speed

[Vitals Immunity]: Scent of death supports your life—Vitals are immune to critical attacks

[Soul Disregard]: Dictators of Death fear nothing—+20% resistance to negative effects, +30% psychological resistance

[Ignore Sudden Death]: Death is like the wind, always by your side—Will not receive any fatal attacks. When health points are lower than 1%, a special status effect will be obtained

_____________________

Han Xiao was helpless; these abilities made Hila practically impenetrable. No, it should not be described as impenetrable, but rather like a cockroach that would not die no matter how much one hit it, unless one used an extremely strong attack ability to finish Hila off.

Oh, I forgot, she was even immune to instant death. Forget it, I’m probably better off just taking a nap…

Han Xiao shook his head.

As expected of the future big boss, the number of her abilities is almost as high as Bennett’s. The only difference between the main roles is just luck.

Hila, the hardest person to take on, was the first person he had met, but Zhang Wei’s team had fallen into a difficult situation. Since he had the means to help out, he naturally would not stand aside and not lend a helping hand. After all, they had fought together side by side before.

Taking advantage of Hila’s distraction, Li Yalin closed in and slashed at her. Hila, as she staggered back in pain, was infuriated by Han Xiao’s sneak attack. Meanwhile, her wounds’ recovery could be seen by the naked eye. However, her being on the boat meant that she could not take out the sniper on the shore. After all, she did not specialize in speed and could only use a vehicle as a barricade against the sniper.

Yet, once Li Yalin, Zhang Wei, and the others found an opening, they instantly engaged in battle with her, forcing Hila to move out of position, exposing her to Han Xiao’s sniping view.

Even though they did not know who the sniper on the shore was, they knew that he was evidently there to help. So, Zhang Wei’s team took the initiative to launch a cooperative attack.

This strategy was very effective. Hila’s movements were instantly restricted, and with the sniper’s uncanny ability to find openings, he managed to stop her from counter-attacking at the right moment every time. This synchronized perfectly with Li Yalin, Zhang Wei, and the others’ movements. Hila realized that she had actually fallen into a situation where she could not retaliate at all. Thus, she could only stay on the defensive, dodging every attack.

But from Zhang Wei and the others’ perspective, it was a ray of light for them. Originally, the team of four had created a battle strategy. But after Hou Yue received heavy injuries, it rendered him unable to fight and left a hole in their teamwork. But that sniper was able to patch up that gap. At every critical moment, he managed to fire a timely shot to assist them.

It was as if he was someone who had a solid grasp of their fighting style.

Who was he?

Li Yalin and Zhang Wei began to have such thoughts.

Hou Yue, who was still suffering from dizzy spells, could only fend off regular soldiers. Watching Zhang Wei and the others coordinate with the sniper, he suddenly felt as if that sniper was actually a real team member of theirs, and it was he who was only an outsider.

“Hila is held up?” Lin Yu furrowed his eyebrows. Looking toward the van at the shore, he squinted. “Black Phantom? What is he doing here?”

They were almost at the end of the estuary. Just slightly ahead of them was the sea. Lin Yu was in dire need for Hila’s abilities to deal AOE damage. She definitely had to get out of that situation. He ordered, “Ugar, get rid of Black Phantom.”

Ugar had already boarded the ship. Overwhelming with his dark purple aura and without any further orders, he was about to lunge toward Han Xiao, who was in the van. But suddenly, he sensed a wave of energy from someone with pugilist powers that were equal to his. When he turned to look, a middle-aged Stardragon special agent had just stepped onto another ship. His fists, wrapped with a flaming-red aura, slammed into the side of an SUV that was parked on the deck with a force comparable to a steam hammer.

That car instantly deflated as it flew out like a bullet shell. Along the way, it collided with a few of Germinal’s soldiers and another two cars as they simultaneously flew off the ship.

That fist was as strong as a missile!

“Division 13’s trump card!” Ugar’s face was solemn, and he no longer cared about Han Xiao. He was locked onto the middle-aged man. Both were powerful martial artists, and as their eyes met, it was as though a bomb just exploded.

Both of them were fuming, and their fists collided like two streaks of transverse lightning striking the sky. The scene seemed to freeze while the sky roared. Ripples could be seen on the surface of the river.

“What a chill!”

Martial artists specialized on controlling their own spirit, and it specialized on training body energy.

Division 13 had played their trump card. Lin Yu had no choice but to send out Ugar, who was at the same rank, to fight back. Exasperated, he ordered, “Renette, go get rid of that Black Phantom.”

“Easy,” Renette uttered.

As an assassin with a teleportation ability, Renette believed he was the nemesis of all snipers, even if it was Black Phantom. With a snap of his fingers, the tired Black Phantom would be gone from this world.

Renette had always seen himself as an artist.

The next second, black mist flashed, and Renette was nowhere to be seen. All of a sudden, he appeared in the driver’s seat of the truck and was going to stab the sword through Han Xiao’s head.

“Teleportation?” Han Xiao was alert and immediately activated the full body electromagnetic armor.

However, the sword was unable to reach even his armor. Frenzied Sword had reacted quickly. He had rushed to block the sword for Han Xiao and died on the spot.

Both were taken aback. Eyes filled with bloodlust, Han Xiao reacted within seconds. He grabbed Renette by his hand using one arm while he activated the thermo-electrical incisor gloves on his other hand. Amid the buzzing of the electricity, he slapped the gloves onto Renette’s face, and immediately, a burning smell filled the air.

“AHH!”

The shrill scream was ear-piercing!

Renette was in crazy pain, and he teleported straight back to the ship. As he tried to move his arm, he realized that Han Xiao was grabbing onto his arm. Han Xiao was also brought onto the barge.

Han Xiao moaned angrily and just would not let go of Renette’s face. With his five fingers penetrating Renette’s skull, the damage dealt was increasing at the speed of waterfall. The pain was so unbearable that Renette let out painful beastly cry, and his expression changed. Han Xiao abruptly raised his other hand and gave him a violent slap. The strength of that slap was over fifty points and instantaneously smashed Renette’s brain into a charred lump of meat.

_____________________

You’ve killed Renette (LV 46).

You’ve gained 60,000 Experience.

Target was 6 levels higher than you. Energy expended: 82%

You’ve gain additional 49,200 Experience!

_____________________

[Second Advancement]

Progress: 2/3

_____________________

Han Xiao panted, trying to catch his breath. Teleportation is indeed powerful but can be weak too. He is suitable to be an assassin, but he thought my weakness was close range attacks.

Teleportation was not a bad ability. If the Superhuman was careful enough, they could be unbeatable. In fact, there were small differences in various teleportation abilities. For instance, when one teleported, could another be brought along as well? How big was the range? Was it within visible range, or was it anywhere one could think of? What kind of teleportation was this; was it imagination, or was it the recombination of matter? Was the energy consumption constant, or did it depend on the distance travelled? Was it purely just traveling from place to place, or could it be aggressive too?

It was all in the details. These were the death-causing reasons.

In the past, he had encountered other characters capable of teleportation, such as a guy with recombination of matter type of teleportation ability. Once he crashed into a battleship’s ionizing shield, he would instantly dissociate into powder. One with the imagination type of teleportation ability would teleport all over the galaxy and ended up overexerting his energy and become weak. Renette’s teleportation seemed to be a mix between imagination and recombination of matter. When he grabbed hold of another person’s body, the other party would also teleport together. This belonged to contact type of teleportation and could be dangerous once one was trapped in it.

His sniping seemed to be the reason that led to Renette’s death. This was also an idea that Han Xiao liked to mislead the others. When assassins thought that close-range attacks could kill him, it usually led to their own death. This disguise instantly tricked one teleporter. If it was a normal battle, Han Xiao knew that he would be helpless against Renette.

Han Xiao stood up and finally understood the situation he was in. First, he got brought onto the ship by Renette, and then Germinal troops were all around him, with their weapons all pointing at him and preventing his escape.

Completely surrounded!

Han Xiao’s eyes froze as he covered his chest with his hands.

“Fire!”

Endless bullets drowned Han Xiao.

All of a sudden, with Han Xiao in the center, a strong invisible force was released. Enemies and vehicles within the range of twenty meters all flew out and fell into the river. This area became empty.

Han Xiao was the only person left behind. His chest was not covered by the electromagnetic armor, revealing a palm size big precise device tied to his chest. The device was creaking, and slowly, it became softer, eventually coming to a stop.

_____________________

Field Repulsive Machine

Type: Extraordinary Machine

Quality: Green

Energy Capacity: 110/150 (requires charging)

Effective Range: 20m

Effect: Releases a strong repulsive field and pushes away and objects in the range

Cooldown Time: 6 minutes

Remarks: Get lost

_____________________

After experimenting for two months, Han Xiao had obtained a variety of blue prints and had already started to suit himself up.

Han Xiao pulled out his two third-generation Berserk Eagles, activated his Electromagnetic Hover-boots, and jumped onto another ship.

Since I am here, I might as well kill some people!

With Renette’s blood on his body, Han Xiao started his killing on the barge.

The Berserk Eagles had bullets coming out of them non-stop, and because the recoil was too strong, he was unable to move his wrist. The bullets penetrated through every single Germinal soldier, either through their chest or head shot, leaving the floor full of corpses. It was just like a dark movie, whereby no one could stop him.

Soon enough, he arrived on the ship with Li Yalin.

Han Xiao’s willful actions soon caught the attention of everyone.

Lin Yu was furious. Renette, that idiot, did not just get himself killed but had even brought the monster onto the ship. Their ship was about to leave the estuary, and yet he still made such a mess!

“Quickly, get rid of that Black Phantom!” Lin Yu demanded. As their commander, he could not attack easily. If he did, there would be no one left to observe the battle.

Hila had long discovered Han Xiao, and she was already full of anger. She clapped her hands and created a mental shock to deter Li Yalin and the others. She took a deep breath and gathered all the power of the corpses, turned, and screamed at Han Xiao. She used all the gathered power on Han Xiao, and the air rippled like a sound wave.

This was like an exploding bomb in the brain!

A sudden pain hit Han Xiao. It felt as though someone was using a spoon to stir all around his brain. The sky in his sight seemed to be tilted as he lost control of his body and stumbled to one side. Feeling nauseous, the veins on Han Xiao’s temples seemed to jump vigorously as if they were going to explode.

_____________________

You have suffered 211 mental damage!

You are in a dizzy state!

_____________________

With my intelligence characteristic providing me with a mental defense, I still suffered 200+ damage! If I did not have [Low-Level Strengthened Life], I could have lost almost one fifth of my HP!

On a technologically-advanced new planet, Hila’s combat strength was scary!

Bearing the pin-pricking pain in his head, Han Xiao whipped out a gray grenade from his waist and threw it out. His accuracy was compromised, and the grenade landed ten meters away from Hila.

Hila thought that this was the side effect from him being dizzy and did not pay attention to it. She decided to return with a more impactful one, but out of the blue, the grenade detonated. There was no flame nor shrapnel, only an ear-piercing high-pitched sound that rushed directly into her eardrums.

Hila’s brain started hurting, and she felt the world was turning, too.

“You can make people dizzy, so can I!” Han Xiao gnashed his teeth.

_____________________

Burst Grenade: Uses high frequency sound to disrupt the eardrum.

Range: 50m

Effects: causes one to feel dizzy

Magnitude of affects determined by Endurance.

Han Xiao was right in the middle of a battlefield. He decided that it was not an appropriate time for his advancement.

I should get out of this battlefield first.

He decided to look through other information first, such as the results from [Tedramira River Battle]. His final evaluation was a B. He had 450,000 Experience on hand, which was far more than what he had expected, and he had millions of Experience accumulated on his interface as well.

[Fall of the Germinal]—the progress of that level A mission had increased by two percent, and the improvement for automated destruction was even better. The evacuating Germinal troops had been a large force made up of many different troops from different settlements. Therefore, when Stardragon and Hesla crippled the evacuees, he also took a share.

The total gain had reached twenty-one percent. This meant that he had completed the requirements of this quest. The Southern Continent could not offer him any further improvements. He could go to the Western Continent and the Northern Continent next to anticipate a large battle like this again. Then he could earn more Experience. After that, he would have to go to Germinal’s home base on Andrea Mainland.

There would still be more gains he could reap in the future. So, Han Xiao would not cease [Fall of the Germinal] so quickly. Since the minimum standard was twenty percent and he had already completed the task, it gave him some confidence. This meant he could try and get a higher rating the next time around since he was no longer in a hurry to complete the task.

Based on his experience, the ratings from A-level missions would be higher. The reward was special this time around and not limited to experience, skills, expertise, talent points, special equipment, or even direct rewards of attribute points.

Han Xiao arrived at the location where the Dark Net helicopter was stationed. The driver was on standby as he moved the useful machinery up onto the helicopter. He then blew up the truck without leaving a single trace behind.

The truck had cost him a sum of money, but since he had an abundance of funds, he did not feel the pinch at all.

As the saying goes, it is easy to enter the luxury lifestyle when you’re poor, but it is way more difficult to go back to a pauper kind of lifestyle when you’re rich.

Han Xiao was very fortunate to step on the wealthy path. The market was huge, and he need not worry about money anymore.

“Everyone says that a man turns bad when he becomes rich, and that is so true,” Han Xiao mumbled as he smoked a few cigarettes before getting onto the helicopter, instructing the pilot to take off.

The wind from the rotors was strong, forcing Han Xiao to squint.

…

Waves raged on the dark sea surface, and the smell of blood filled the air.

Breaking away from their pursuers, the Germinal fleet sailed in the boundless sea. They turned on anti-detection to prevent themselves from being discovered by the satellites.

There were many satellites orbiting Aquamarine, and many were from the previous civilization who had fallen. These satellites had been taken in by the Six Nations, but some of them had fallen into the hands of other forces. Some became public satellites for some hackers, and others became space junk.

Each ship had been charred by explosions, and the repairmen were busy fixing them, riveting the steel plates and repairing the damaged mechanical components one by one. The rest of the personnel were cleaning the deck and washing away the blood stains.

Breaking through the blockade made them suffer heavy losses, including the lives of 17 executives. Han Xiao alone had killed three. When Lin Yu was reporting back to the commander, he emphasized on these statistics.

Black Phantom’s intervention surprised the commander. It turned quickly into anger as the commander started to feel like the Germinal Organization had seemed to turn into a tiger without teeth. Anyone dared to bully it. At the same time, it also increased his hatred for Zero.

He had disrupted the plan that they had laid out laboriously and also put the entire organization in grave danger. The commander remembered his conversation with Zero before he escaped from the lab. It angered him more whenever he thought of how this traitor managed to fulfil his promise.

The commander then made people add Black Phantom to the watch list as he had no energy to focus on a small assassin at the moment. The main problem on the commander’s mind was the next step of the plan for the organization.

All the sub-bases of three continents had been evacuated. Now that they had lost the ability to be proactive, the Six Nations had no more reservations, and it was likely that they would seize this opportunity to start the war. The commander did not wish to see this happen as it would bring about critical damage to the organization. He needed time for the Germinal Organization to recuperate. They had to eliminate Zero, who could see into the future.

Germinal had been in Andrea Mainland for a long time, and if the six Nations were to start a war with them, there was no other choice but to leave the mainland and fight from the sea.

Release the Intercontinental Nuclear Bomb? Not to mention that there are civilians living on Andrea Mainland, Germinal also had anti-missile facilities. If they were forced to their wit’s end, they could just set the nuclear bomb off and destroy the world… mutually assured destruction. Of course, that would be his last choice; he could not keep that as a trump card. Even if he were to use this as a threat, the Six Nations would never allow Germinal to continue to grow.

Maybe Red Maple, Ordina, and Hesla would come to a compromise at different stages and start to launch sneak attacks behind the scene, but the rash fool from Theseus and the madman from Raylen would not hold themselves back. They would likely reject any form of compromise and would only launch more aggressive counterattacks. They were not afraid to get destroyed together with Germinal if it had to be.

In the original plot, the four continents were the battlefields for the Six Nations. The secret sub-bases bound the Six Nations and affected the war to a huge extent. Only by having luck on their side, would they have been able to break the stalemate.

When the war got fierce, Germinal troops suffered many defeats and were hugely crippled. As there were not many armed forces left of Germinal, some politicians in the Six Nations perceived their goals to be reached and were voting to compromise. From their perspective, the goal of destroying Germinal had been achieved, and the Six Nations had suffered losses too. They had chosen to allow the Germinal Organization to stay on Andrea Mainland. After all, that was a place where no one wanted to be. Although it was impossible to remove the roots, it could prevent their resurgence.

Any hindrance to the Six Nations had been removed. The Germinal Organization had lost their powerful threats to the Six Nations, such as killing of civilians and destroying cities. Only the Andrea Mainland base camp was left for them, and the Six Nations could combine their powers into one, making the situation for Germinal worse than it already was.

The most urgent task at the moment was to divert the attention of the Six Nations, not allowing them to have time and resources to start the war. The commander gave this thought some thinking again, but he could not think of better ideas.

“Commander, Base 13 has something urgent to report. It is regarding a recent successful test subject from the [Genetic Improvement Plan]. This is the observation record.” An assistant handed him a report.

The moment the commander heard the words ‘test subject’, he felt a headache. He was stunned when he looked at the report.

The assistant then said, “Cases like this did not just happen on one person. As you can see on the following list, this phenomenon seems to have occurred on a large scale, and it is spreading like an infectious disease.”

The commander stayed quiet for a while, looking as if he was digesting the information. He then made a sneer under the mask.

“There are weird phenomena, but it seems like luck is on our side. The Six Nations will have to start worrying now.”

…

In a room on the boat, the light was dim and kept blinking. Hila took off her black combat uniform and faced the mirror to count the number of wounds on her body. The most obvious one was a bullet at the side of her rib, and the dark blood clot that had formed was terrifying.

Hila was expressionless as she rubbed the wound to reveal her tender flesh.

She looked at the mirror and remembered how her skin used to be smooth and fair with barely any scars. Unlike now, she had so many marks of serious injuries on her body.

Hila lowered her eyelids, and her long lashes covered her eyes. She put on her clothes again and went out to stare at the sea silently.

She had to live and wait for the next battle.

…

Zhang Wei and his team took the plane back to Division 13. Other than Zhang Wei, who had to write the report, the rest of the team closed their eyes as they were overwhelmed with fatigue from the battle.

“Say… how did Han Xiao become Black Phantom?” Li Yalin suddenly opened her eyes with a confused look.

“What, Brother Xiao is Black Phantom‽” Lin Yao was taken aback as he had not been involved in the battle and did not know about this matter.

Zhang Wei then explained the story to him.

Lin Yao was flabbergasted and could not help but ask, “You couldn’t have recognized the wrong person, right?”

“I could recognize him even if he turned into ash!” Lin Yalin coldly laughed with confidence.

“Are we not going to look for him and bring him back?”

“He was embarrassed when he left. He must be on a secret mission. I will ask the higher-ups when I report to them,” Zhang Wei said as he shook his head.

Lin Yalin could not help but add, “Do help me ask when he is intending to repay me as well…”

Zhang Wei was lost for words.

“Little Lin Lin, you do not seem to be hurt.” Di Susu, who was in the same plane, came over. Li Yalin’s face suddenly slammed down as she turned her head, ignoring her.

Di Susu was not bothered. She pushed the shy Lin Yao aside and sat down beside Li Yalin. With a playful smile, she moved closer to Li Yalin. She then moved further away hurriedly as if Di Susu was the source of a virus.

Di Susu loved Li Yalin’s face of discomfort. She laughed, turning her eyes away, and asked, “Are you guys talking about Black Phantom? I met him once in the past and heard he took part in the war as well.”

Li Yalin’s eyes lit up. She was very certain that Black Phantom was Han Xiao. Curious about what happened to him after he left Division 13, she looked past her annoyance with Di Su Su and asked her eagerly, “What was he doing when you met him?”

“At that time, his code name was still Mr. Black, a Scorpion-level assassin, who was involved in a defense mission in Seagull City with the leader of the Dark Net.”

Li Yalin pumped her intently for more information. “Have you heard anything else?

Di Su Su raised her eyebrows. “Why are you so concerned?”

“I’m curious about him,” Li Yalin explained. She felt that there must have been a deeper reason for Han Xiao becoming Black Phantom. He would not have exposed his identity easily.

Curious? Oh no, that would usually be the first step to the beginning of a love story. We must kill that possibility in its cradle. Di Su Su’s eyes froze but her smile remained. She said slowly, “Oh, I got some information about Black Phantom from a female assassin with codename Golden Fox…”

Five minutes later, the listening crowd was staring with glazed eyes, trying their best to process the huge amount of information.

Lin Yao trembled with fear. At some point in time, Lambert stopped wiping his blade.

Lin Yalin mumbled under her breath, “No wonder he had no physical urge when he was touching me…”

Hou Yue swallowed dryly and told himself that he would hide away if Han Xiao ever returned to the team.

“When you meet him next time, be careful.” Di Su Su chuckled, got up, and sashayed away, leaving the group staring at one another.

Zhang Wei coughed. “He is our teammate after all. Don’t discriminate against him.”

Everyone nodded hesitantly in agreement.

Zhang Wei coughed again as he continued to write the report. However, the news was unsettling. He could not ease his mind to focus fully on his report but pushed on nonetheless. As soon as he was done, he got up to look for his Commanding Officer. After submitting his report, he requested to speak to the Secretary.

After a few minutes of waiting, his request was approved, and the video communication was put through. The bald head image of the Director of the Secret Service appeared on the screen. Zhang Wei went straight to the point and said, “We saw Han Xiao.”

The Director of the Secret Service was surprised.

Since the last tip off, Han Xiao seemed to have vanished from the face of earth. He could not be contacted no matter how they tried. Although Division 13 had stopped their search for Han Xiao, they were still very curious about his whereabouts.

The Director of the Secret Service said in a serious tone, “Go on”.

Zhang Wei phrased himself carefully and explained how they had discovered that Black Phantom was Han Xiao.

The Director of the Secret Service had initially thought that Zhang Wei had seen Han Xiao with his own eyes. Little did he know that it was only a speculation without hard evidence. He stared blankly for a moment before he muffled a chuckle and replied, “You… must have confused the two people.”

How could Black Phantom be Han Xiao? One was a super assassin in the Dark Net Organization with an extraordinary level of combat capability. Although Han Xiao had demonstrated his capability previously, he was far weaker than Black Phantom. This guess was just too far off the mark!

The Director of the Secret Service was really amused. He almost blurted out that Han Xiao was Zero, but he stopped himself. The bureau had tight confidentiality rules that prevented him from disclosing Zero’s identity to others.

Even though Han Xiao’s whereabouts were highly erratic and unpredictable and the Germinal Organization was greatly undermined, hence there was probably not much of a need to conceal Han Xiao’s identity, rules were rules.

After all, Han Xiao had been known as a field agent all this while. Concealing his identity could reduce the risk and lessen the trouble. Even though the Germinal Organization knew that Zero was liaising with Stardragon, they had not been able to find Zero all this while. Thus, the Director thought there was no need to let Zhang Wei in on this information.

Zhang Wei had never seen Han Xiao’s real appearance, so he could not have found out that Han Xiao’s true identity was Zero.

“Um, regarding Han Xiao’s real identity… He cannot be Black Phantom.”

Zhang Wei stared blankly. He thought, perhaps, that this was a hidden message from the Secretary, for him to stop being nosy about this issue. So… Han Xiao was most likely sent out by the higher-ups on a special mission, which would explain why he needed to conceal his identity.

“I understand,” Zhang Wei replied with a knowing nod.

The Secretary was puzzled.

What do you understand? Strange…

…

Stardragon’s Division 13 sorted out all the reports and intelligence information and handed the final document to the Seven-Seat Committee. The Committee held a meeting to sort out all the important issues that needed to be discussed, and finally, there was only the issue regarding Black Phantom left on the table. All six knew Black Phantom’s reputation on the Dark Net. The discussion was more focused on how they should treat Black Phantom.

“He offered a helping hand, but it could have been at the Dark Net’s request or because of his own personal decision.”

An elder knocked on the table top and said slowly, “The Dark Net came to us previously. They are going to start the shelter program, so they are requesting our aid. So, this should be a friendly gesture from them.”

The members nodded in agreement. The Dark Net had always remained a neutral party. If this was a sign that they are leaning toward the Six Nations, it would definitely be a good turn of events. The Seven-Member Committee quickly concluded that it would support the Dark Net’s shelter program and approved their request for material aid. This was their opportunity to return the favor and win them over.

After the meeting was over, Gu Hui and Elder Gao pushed open the heavy door of the conference room and walked down the quiet empty corridor side by side, discussing a separate issue in a hushed voice.

“Have you gotten any other news about Han Xiao?”

“He has not been seen ever since he gave us some intelligence two months back.”

Gu Hui shook his head. Han Xiao was the person who provided the information. Division 13 was eager to get in contact with him again, but he was not picking up the calls nor answering any messages. As if he had vanished off the face of the earth, he was completely off the grid. No one was aware of his whereabouts or his plans.

Gu Hui’s heart sank as he recalled Han’s scrupulous nature.

Please don’t be wreaking havoc again…

As for Zhang Wei’s speculation, Gu Hui had only heard from the Director of the Secret Service who briefly mentioned it. Without any real evidence, he would not be too bothered. How could Black Phantom be Han Xiao? His looks and combat capability were just not comparable.

Zhang Wei did not know Han Xiao’s real identity, so he was blindly guessing, but Gu Hui was aware that Han Xiao was Zero. Their intel was asymmetric; that was probably why it caused a misunderstanding.

…

Information was updated on the Dark Net, and some of the information regarding the Battle of Tedramira River was circulated out. Most people were worried about the volatility of the situation, as if the dark clouds of war were looming on the horizon once again.

The information contained news of Black Phantom’s involvement in the fight. Many forces were very concerned regarding the actions of this super assassin. It was apparent that Black Phantom was an extraordinarily powerful Mechanic. There were quite a number of powerful Espers and Pugilist, but Mechanics with high combat capability were rare. Black Phantom should be added to that short list of powerful Mechanics.

“He still made a high profile move.”

Bennett sighed with profound resignation and sipped his herbal potion that was meant to suppress his wounds.

Out of the blue, Wang Yuan received a call. His face lit up with joy and exclaimed, “Stardragon has promised material aid!”

Bennett was surprised. That was not a small sum, but Stardragon had agreed to it so readily. He asked, “What did they say?”

“Well, they said they are very grateful for our help.”

Bennett frowned in puzzlement. “Help? What did we do?”

On second thought, Bennett realized that Stardragon must have thought that they had sent Black Phantom. Black Phantom was seen as a representative of the Blood Pact Society, and his actions were inevitably labelled as representing the Dark Net Organization.

Bennett was at a loss, not knowing whether to cry or to laugh. Black Phantom had unintentionally done him a favor. He would definitely not clarify this wonderful misunderstanding. “Well, I guess I owe him a favor then. Oh, what did Hesla say?”

Wang Yuan pushed his black-frame spectacles. With a flash of contempt in his eyes, he snorted, “They are still pushing away the responsibility.”

Bennett shook his head. He had long known Hesla’s way of doing things, and only Stardragon was easier to talk to. If he really wanted to dig out some material aid from the five other stingy nations, it would not be without some long, tedious negotiation.

“With Stardragon’s assistance, the initial resources are more or less enough. Let’s start the shelter program as soon as possible. The war will break out any time now. The sooner it is implemented, the more people we can shelter.”

…

Sleepy Winter and his group finally completed the Camp-destroyer series mission [Battle of the Tedramira River]. Their evaluation was naturally low, but because it was a Super-Level mission, the Experience they had gotten was considerable.

They should have been very happy with the results, but whenever the three of them recalled Frenzied Sword’s performance, they immediately felt that the reward from the mission was just too meagre. Comparison always made it worse. The feeling of being far behind someone just felt horrible, not to mention that they had in fact started out at the same time. Rainy Kim was rather calm, but Sleepy Winter and Twinkle Fried Rice were really fed up.

Thinking about it again and again, Sleepy Winter finally sent a chat request to Frenzied Sword.

“Frenzied Sword?”

“Sleepy Winter, why are you looking for me?” Frenzied Sword asked in a humble voice.

“I just wanted to ask, did you trigger a secret quest? We saw you on the battlefield…” Sleepy Winter sent out the video message.

“Oh, you guys were there, too?” Frenzied Sword was surprised.

Why does this tone feel so annoying? Sleepy Winter coughed dryly and chatted half-heartedly before asking about Black Phantom. The video showed Black Phantom in action. Sleepy Winter was well aware that Black Phantom was an advanced figure who had been seen around Big Horn Village, and he was very curious about how Frenzied Sword came to know him.

Frenzied Sword kept beating around the bush and refused to talk about the main topic. Sleepy Winter knew that he was unwilling to share information about the secret quest, and he could only bid farewell and hang up the communication sullenly.

“Did he say anything?” asked Twinkle Fried Rice.

“No.” Sleepy Winter shook his head. He was in fact a little envious of Frenzied Sword, but he knew secret quest was something that came with luck. Then, an idea came to his mind.

“Why don’t we try speaking to Black Phantom?”

…

The sky was turning bright near the horizon. It was dawn.

At Han Xiao’s request, the helicopter landed on a hilltop in the wilderness. Han Xiao asked the pilot to stand by, and stepping off the plane, he took a deep breath. The fresh air invigorated him.

After flying through the night away from the Tedramira River, he was getting ready for his Advancement when Frenzied Sword dropped offline.

A player going offline is akin to disappearing. That gave the pilot a shock. Seeing that Han Xiao’s expression had remained unchanged, he suppressed his shock.

Different players had different peculiarities. Although the world had all kinds of Espers that made everyone well accustomed to abnormalities, over time, more and more people would realize the peculiar nature of the players’ community, and there would definitely be some interesting developments. Han Xiao could not wait to see this happening. Then he could validate some of his guesses.

Putting aside these thoughts, Han Xiao focused his attention on the interface—the requirements for advancement had been met, so a level-up would mean an Advancement.

He looked at the Experience that he had accumulated over the past two months. Minus the Experience that he had used up for skills improvement and integration of blueprints, he still had a full 6.1 million Experience left!

Finally, a second Advancement! Han Xiao was secretly leaping in joy. His progress had been as fast as a rocket, especially since he had gotten a huge channel to reap Experience after the players appeared!

After this Advancement, he would officially become the top figure on Aquamarine, and this was only the beginning. This meant that he could set foot in areas that he had previously found to be too dangerous, to acquire those rare Abilities and Skills. Quests that could trigger dangerous situations, Abilities, Skills, and Equipment—all that would have a huge impact on his combat capability.

He was already halfway there to becoming someone like Bennett and Hila who could take on BOSS Level Quests with their template Abilities.

Advancement!

Han Xiao entered his Experience.

_____________________

[Mechanic (Trainee)] Level-Up LV 5

+50 Energy, +1 Dexterity, +1 Endurance, +4 Intelligence!

Attained 3 points Unassigned stat points!

Attained 1 Talent Point!

_____________________

You have completed your second Advancement.

Endurance and Health points ratio increased to 1:20!

After the Advancement, Han Xiao’s health point conversion ratio increased from 1:15 to 1:20. It was obvious to him that his body was stronger. He could feel a ball of energy down in his abdomen, invigorating him.

This second Advancement did not unlock as many skills as his first Advancement did. His first Advancement had felt like a complete rebirth, while this second Advancement was way smoother a process than his first one.

Though not explicit as a description on the interface, Han Xiao noticed that his perception had become more acute. The world was more vivid in his eyes.

If he had to describe how the Advancement felt, it would be ‘natural’. He could feel the breeze flowing around his limbs and smell the mix of particles in the air. His senses were amplified by several notches.

The second Advancement was a prerequisite to unlock many skills, and of course, the most obvious benefit was that he could upgrade to LV 60.

He had plenty of Experience on his interface, so he need not stay at his current level to accumulate Experience. He could first take [Night Stalker], which was at Level6, to its highest level. This would bring him a total of 30 Dexterity, 20 Strength, 10 Mystery, as well as 10 Talent points and 20 Unassigned Stats points.

Han Xiao then assigned his Experience to [Mechanic (Trainee)], a main class with an upper limit of Level15. As he progressed, it took more and more Experience for a level-up. He had used up a significant amount of Experience to level it up from Level5 to Level10.

His level skyrocketed by tens of level and rose directly to LV 50!

As his Energy exceeded one thousand points and reached Energy Level 6, Han Xiao received additional milestone rewards.

_____________________

+6 S trength, +8 Dexterity, +6 Endurance, +10 Intelligence, +400 Max. Stamina, +8% Machinery Quality, +8% Production Speed, Energy Stats Strengthened

_____________________

As one’s Energy Level grew higher, the bonus addition became more significant. Levelling up to Level 6 was a significant milestone. He could receive a new bonus addition of Energy Stats Strengthened that made the benefits of his attributes more prominent. To a Mechanic, Energy with magnetic properties could be used for producing and utilizing machinery. He could increase the speed, improve the quality, and amplify the power more easily. The actual effect would be far more useful than the numbers on the interface looked.

Mechanics were not like Pugilists or Espers who would require huge amount of Energy. In the beginning, additional Energy might not be very useful to Mechanics, but once he had the ability to utilize his Energy in this manner, his strength as a Mechanic would be more apparent.

[Mechanic (Trainee)] reached Level 10. To level up further, Han Xiao would need 800,000 Experience. Han Xiao had around 1,300,000 Experience left on his interface. He decided to save half of it as a backup to integrate blueprints and upgrade other skills.

In the last two months, he had occasionally upgraded some important skills, such as [Sniper], [Moving Snipe], [Continuous Gliding Shots]. Not forgetting his blueprints, his core [Magnetically Controlled Retractable Armor]was already at Lv 5. He was already donning on a new set of armor where his Stats were strengthened. He had also upgraded blueprints like[Ranger Robot], [Low Level Smart Chip]. These blueprints were the ones that were relatively useful.

Han Xiao took a look at the Skill List and entered his Experience into [Flaming Will]and[Fine Intensive Modification]. These two Skills had better value for Experience. After his Experience dropped to half of its initial level, Han Xiao stopped the upgrading process. These two skills were each upgraded by two or three levels.

He had accumulated thirty-eight unassigned stat points, and he threw all of them into his Intelligence stat. That was the crude yet simple manner in which Mechanics upgraded themselves.

After all this was done, his combat effectiveness soared. Without even relying on his equipment, his Energy Rank reached the standard of 12,000 Ona!

_____________________

Level: 50

Attributes: 69 S trength, 94 Dexterity, 82 Endurance, 200 Intelligence, 11 Mystery, 6 Charisma, 1 Luck

Health: 2,970

Energy: 1,230 [Level 6]

Power Level: 1213 Ona

Grade: D

[Take on your equipment. You can be a Boss level figure on this planet if you work hard.]

_____________________

Han Xiao was very satisfied with the growth in his strength. Intelligence had become his strongest stat—it had reached two hundred points! He could be way more productive when he utilized his machinery now.

With the speed at which he was gaining Experience, he would rise to LV 60 in a very short period of time. This was the upper limit for a second Advancement; he was at the top among the version 1.0 players.

My combat capability now, combined with my mechanical equipment, means that I am among the top few fighters in Aquamarine.

Even at LV 50, my Stats are very strong. That is partly because of my expertise and partly because my main vocation is at a high level. This means I can take care of most superhumans without too much difficulty.

I can count on my machinery to help me win, but my expertise and skills are too limited. I’m just too far off from someone like Bennett.

Han Xiao had been busy harvesting Experience from players, and he would continue doing so, accumulating Experience and gaining exposure to increase his popularity. He would be travelling to the novice villages beyond Andrea to teach the novice players basic skills first, and after that, he could proceed to teaching the [Energy Forging Technique]. Through this, he would accumulate a great deal of Experience. With this, he was confident that he would be able to invest in rare skills and abilities very soon.

Two months’ worth of Experience was just wiped out in an instant. It would not have been so easy if he was still his old self. He would have wanted to level up the moment he had gotten some Experience. Now, Han Xiao was not too worried about how he could get more Experience.

Players, they were the biggest market!

[Energy Forging Technique] was his trump card. Once he let the news out, it would trigger a frenzy. In fact, any player that had been through their first Advancement would eventually awaken this skill. But most players are unaware of this. As long as he imparted this skill to a player below LV 20, he would be able to harvest a huge amount of Experience.

But there was a condition; he needed to raise his profile so that more players could get to know him.

There are two ways. I could take the initiative to find players or create opportunities for players to find me…

Han Xiao stroked his stubble and was deep in thought.

If he chose to look for players proactively, it would be a trip like his recent trip to Big Horn Village. Other than the novice grounds beyond Andrea Mainland, he could go to the Southern Continent, the Western Continent, and the Northern Continent to harvest some Experience.

It did not seem like he had much of an opportunity to get players to come to him on their own. He could release more tasks after his Advancement, but it was still a drop in the ocean if he looked at the entire player community. There was no way he could attract all the players. He had made a good start at Big Horn Village—quite a number of players thought that Black Phantom could trigger secret quests. But that was far from getting enough players to come to him. He needed a more concrete plan.

After the battle, the Germinal Organization had withdrawn its forces from the three continents and gone into hiding. For the time being, the global situation would remain stable. At the very least, there would be no public declaration of war for some time. The tide had changed. Germinal would not declare war. However, on a second thought, the power had now come to the hands of the Six Nations. It might just bring the eminent war to an earlier date. This was not his original intention.

Resigning to his fate, he could only shake his head.

Nonetheless, the situation was not too bad. If the Six Nations went ahead to start a war and destroyed the Germinal Organization, it would not bring any harm to him. With this thought in mind, Han Xiao was relieved. After all, he was not an egotistical person; he had never felt like he could control everyone. What he had always wanted to do was to make full use of his extraordinary foresight to reap benefits from the power struggles between the different forces.

Even though the situation had deviated from its original track, war was still not avoidable. Han Xiao could not help but sigh. He was powerless as an individual to try to revert the situation. Instead, he was embroiled into the maelstrom. However, precisely because he was whirled into the situation, he could seize opportunities that came his way. This was really energizing for Han Xiao.

For any player to reach LV 20, they will take roughly two months… But now, two months is just nice for me to run a trip to all the novice villages, Han Xiao thought to himself with a smirk.

Having hammered out his next plan of action. Han Xiao began to think about another issue—his own strength.

After his Advancement, he was able to move closer to the upper limit of version 1.0. Of course, there was no real upper limit for him. He was more concerned about his combat capability. Ranks were only a part of his combat capabilities. His capabilities would be more dependent on his skills, expertise, and mechanical equipment. It went without saying that Mechanics were more dependent on their equipment than other classes.

Han Xiao was using his sniper without a hitch. Naturally, he did not want to give up on his sniper. However, he felt that it was time to develop a second combat style to deal with the increasingly complex situations that he would be going in to.

Mechanics were known for having a wide range of tactics. Just like how saints would never fall for the same trick again, mechanics would never rely on a single set of tactics. To develop new tactics, one would only need to develop new tactics centered around a core gadget, just like how the core of Lurker Sniper Flow was the sniper itself. Using additional tools like electromagnetic skating shoes, special ammunition, stealth ability, and so on could further strengthen one’s prowess.

To a mechanic, developing a new battle tactic was a challenging yet fun task. Brainstorming on new ideas and then being able to bring it to life enabled one to achieve a sense of fulfilment, just like role-playing games.

I have quite a few choices, Rovers, Portable Batteries, self-created Mechas. However, the rovers’ attributes and intelligence are weak on their own, and besides, due to their large sizes, they cannot be easily carried around.

Moreover, even if the only model is placed into the robot troop, the outcome will still be unsatisfactory. They are way too expensive.

As for the battery… Even though there is a ‘Portable’ in the name, the pedestal disc is still too large. If I cannot assemble it within seconds, I can’t use it with the flamethrower style. Perhaps, I can only use it as a trap ambush…

There’s also the self-created Mechas…

Han Xiao had a lot of blueprints that he could use for the armor suit, such as K600 Endoskeleton, Smart Chip, Exoskeleton limbs, Electromagnetic Hover Boots, Basic Storage Cube, and other modules. In addition, he had acquired all the basic knowledges, including Bio-engineering, Mechanical dynamics, Assembly, and Energetics. He had already fulfilled the criteria for creating his own armor.

This was not a bad idea; however, some problems might still arise. For instance, to equip the Mecha, he would first need a support vehicle that could repair and replenish the materials. Prolonged battling could weaken the attack power, just like a problem every guy would face.

Besides, he did not want to run around wearing a tin can, and it would be best if he could fly. He did actually develop a jetpack, but it still needed some adjustments. When activated, the jetpack would fly away without the pilot. If the jetpack was secured tightly, one could experience what a hundred times the speed of a Ferris wheel would feel like. Han Xiao did not want to try that for the second time, and as such, apart from the small drone, none of his other machines had a flying ability.

Medium scale and large scale Mechas required advance knowledge of [Heavy Machine Modification], and he was only capable of modifying light Mechas. Nano-Muscle Suits were more classic but required advance knowledge of [Miniature Machine Modification].

Suddenly, Han Xiao had a eureka moment and came up with a new idea.

Almost made a grave mistake. Actually, I do not need armor as my tactic core. I can start from the assisting type of light armor, neglecting the firepower and focusing on my personal attributes…

He had an idea. As he recalled the armor he had used or seen before, he thought that basic light armor looked reliable and would be easy to replicate one.

As for robots and turrets, he decided to give up on them since they were inconvenient to bring around, and it was impossible to always bring along a truck. Even with airdrop support, there must be a transport aircraft, and then there was the money… No planes could fly in a country’s airspace. Even Fabian Company’s planes, which had licenses, had to follow a fixed route, and they were not allowed to fly wherever they liked. It would be alright to fly into the wild, but there would not be stable supply stations in the vicinity, and it would be difficult for airdrops.

As the night faded away, the golden glow of the sun reappeared, turning the sky from pitch black to a light blue.

Han Xiao stretched his neck, and from his collar bones came a cracking sound. He was re-energized and full of enthusiasm, ready for the fresh day. He felt like he could puncture the sky with just one punch.

Of course, that was just an illusion due to his overflowing energy. His senses, after becoming stronger, were also sharper. Han Xiao felt his vision, hearing, and sense of smell had all improved. As such, he was even able to see the details on the rough surface of a tree trunk from afar.

Han Xiao boarded the helicopter and ordered the pilot to take flight.

…

Han Xiao travelled on Dark Net’s helicopter and finally arrived at another new village on the Southern Continent after landing several times in between to refill the fuel. This village was also a place where Vagrant Warlords gathered, and it was called Green Valley Ville.

There was a total of nineteen beginner towns for new players’ on Planet Aquamarine: five in the Southern Continent, four in the Western Continent, four in the Northern Continent, and six on Andrea Mainland.

Green Valley Ville was a land controlled by the Vagrant Warlords and belonged to the Alumera family.

Alumera, a well-known Vagrant Warlord force with family style management, were headquartered on the Southern Continent. They also had a land on the North continent. In addition, they were in partnership with Theseus. The chief in command was called Darryl Alumera. Anyone with the same last name would be his immediate family member. His other top commanders were all strong players that he had been headhunted to join him, like Second Leader Xiao Jin, Third Leader Bi Qi, and so on. The force was formed by surviving members of various extinct states, and hence, they were a diverse people.

The Vagrant Warlords called themselves different names, including ‘Family’, ‘Group’, ‘Financial Group’, ‘General’, and so on. They believed that if they formed groups, they were less likely to be bullied or threatened. When the force eventually became stronger, Alumera took control of the military and became an authority in the wild. Many Vagrant Warlords chose to join them, as after all, the Aquamarine wild was not a safe place for most.

All Han Xiao wanted now was to continue searching for players and earning experience through them. Time was limited; hence, he did not stop after the battles but immediately proceed to new villages to search for players.

There were three scenarios when players went online and offline or respawn. The first was ‘same spot’ respawn. This required some explanation. When one went offline while being on a moving vehicle, then when one respawned, one would not respawn back at the same location, but one would be respawned back onto the same vehicle. For example, if one was travelling in space, but the location one respawned at was not on the spaceship, then that would be crazy.

The second scenario was respawning at the nearest city. That only applied to respawning players and not for those that were logged in. This meant that if one was killed, one would earn a chance to travel to a city for free, and it was either the city that one wanted or the city that one did not want.

The third scenario was binding to a certain respawn location. However, this required special conditions, including affiliation to camps, special items, or through agreements with NPCs. For example, when one joined a secret camp, one could bind to the camp and select it as one’s respawn point, but others would not be able to do so.

Frenzied Sword would come online on the helicopter. As such, Han Xiao had left a phone behind and instructed the pilot to wait. He then trudged through the forest, heading for the Green Valley Ville.

After two hours, the outline of the Green Valley Ville could be seen from a distance away. It was situated at the side of the forest on a flat land. It was fortified and surrounded by barbed wire fence, and there were vagrant warlords patrolling around. As expected, all the players were gathering at the camps outside of the settlement, just like in Big Horn Village.

Han Xiao did not bother to hide himself. The sentry of the Green Valley Ville spotted him from far away and reported right away to the person-in-charge, Balsas.

Balsas was a bald black man, neither tall nor strong. Instead, he was tiny and thin. He had a pair of triangular eyes that seemed gloomy. Upon hearing what the sentry had described, he was shaken. “Sounds a little like Black Phantom.”

Balsas took out his computer and searched for Black Phantom’s photo. Upon getting confirmation from the sentry, Balsas’ expression changed. “Didn’t he just interfere with the battle at Tedramira River. Why is he here? I have nothing to do with him.”

Just the name ‘Black Phantom’ alone made Balsas anxious. Even though Green Valley Ville was heavily armed, he still felt unsafe. Balsas then muttered, “Should we approach him and find out why he is here?”

Since Alumera did not have a previous relationships with the Black Phantom, Balsas thought that it would be impossible to clash with the Black Phantom, and there was also no one who had published a wanted notice on Black Phantom on the dark net. Balsas calmed down and called for an assistant. He ordered his assistant to take his place and approach the Black Phantom as he was afraid to do it himself.

When the assistant headed out of the gate and walked toward Black Phantom, Balsas moved beside the big gate and observed through the barbed wire fence. He seemed really careful.

However, Balsas very soon witnessed a scene that shook him. He saw that the villagers living outside were actually excited and friendly toward the Black Phantom, actually gathering around him.

Balsas was surprised. [How do all the villagers know about the Black Phantom?

…

There were fewer players at Green Valley Ville compared to the number of players at Big Horn Village.

When Han Xiao arrived at the players’ camp, he was warmly welcomed by everyone. It was so crowded, and everyone surrounded him, obstructing his route.

Through the forum, the incident at Big Horn Village had spread across Aquamarine players, and all other new player villages were envious that new players at Big Horn Village had a chance to switch their vocation. With the unexpected appearance of Black Phantom, all the new players from Green Valley Ville were thrilled.

“Black Phantom is here!”

“We are going to be lucky too!”

A player with the ID ‘Bun-hit-dog’ was more exhilarated than the others. He was quite a well-known video game graphic designer, and his ‘XX Adventure’ series, which was humor-based and full of content, had gained him a lot of fans.

Bun-hit-dog saw Galaxy as a potential television series. As there was limited information online about it, he keenly realized the hidden potential and decided to create a series that introduced and explained Galaxy. Moreover, he himself really liked Galaxy as well.

It was inevitable for many to start a series on a popular game. Normally, as long as the content was interesting, the first person that produced the television series would easily gain popularity through the game.

Wandering around a new player village, Bun-hit-dog had yet to find the starting point for his series. The first episode of a series was the most important, and he did not wish to do it carelessly. It would be great if he could obtain some exclusive information that ordinary players could not get easily.

Han Xiao’s appearance made Bun-hit-dog feel like his chance was finally here.

Since the Black Phantom was a hot topic on the forums, many people would be drawn to his television series if his first episode was about the Black Phantom. Who was not curious about this mysterious high-level character? He would then be able to ride on Black Phantom’s popularity and make the series a successful one.

Bun-hit-dog, who was among the crowd, switched on his video function, panned toward Black Phantom, and started recording. He then added his own explanation and comments into the footage afterward.

Players were clustering toward him due to the event that happened at Big Horn Village, and that helped save Han Xiao some time. Han Xiao thought he might as well not sell any items. After all, he did not bring any with him. Instead, he went straight to releasing the list of skills that he could teach. The only request was to give five reputation points, which meant….

Wish to change your vocation? Give me some money!

“Black Phantom isn’t selling anything? Then how am I supposed to increase my reputation?”

“This… Giving him free money?”

Players were stunned and whispers started among the crowd.

Han Xiao was calm and thought he did not want to go through so much trouble in Big Horn Village, since the players all knew that they could advance through him. His offer seemed like he was trying to scam the players, but in reality, it was just a simple deal: 2,500 Aquamarine Dollars in exchange for a chance for advancement. Deal or no deal, it was all up to them to decide.

Compared to the normal route for obtaining basic knowledges, paying 2,500 Aquamarine Dollars was already considered a cheap price.

At the time, Balsas’ assistant approached and nervously swallowed his saliva. He was trembling with fear every time he took a step closer, and he was afraid of getting too close to Han Xiao.

“What is it?” Han Xian glanced at him.

“Cough cough, may I know why you are here at Green Valley Ville?” The assistant asked as he braced himself.

Han Xiao took a puff of his cigarette and said, “I’m just walking past here. Don’t worry, I’m not here to cause any trouble.”

The assistant heaved a sigh of relief and said, “Oh, Alumera welcomes you, and Balsas wishes to invite you into the city so that he can give you a treat.

“No, thanks, I’ll just stay here.”

Han Xiao declined as it would be inconvenient to communicate with the players once he entered the town. Since there would not be anyone who dared refuse him, he would leave once he had gotten the experience. As such, he did not pay attention to Balsas.

“Al, Alright…” The assistant left hurriedly as his heart raced, and he was dripping with cold sweat. The legendary killer seemed to be emitting a scary aura. The assistant was scared stiff even though Han Xiao was just standing still.

Especially his eyes, they were like those of wolverines wandering around the dark forest. One could get goose bumps just by staring into Han Xiao’s eyes.

This was one of the effects of having Universal Reputation. When dealing with certain forces, there might be additional effects.

When the assistant returned into the village, Balsas asked, “What did he say?”

The assistant then repeated everything that had happened.

“Just passing by?” Balsas frowned and pondered. He suspected that there were some secrets going on between Black Phantom and the refugees outside the village.

After contemplating for a while, he ordered, “Get someone to observe Black Phantom and report to me if anything is weird. Also, go get some information from the refugees outside. I think Black Phantom is here for them.”

On the other hand, all the players had witnessed the conversation between Han Xiao and Balsas’ assistant. A question then arose among the crowd.

Everyone was able to detect and know the name of Black Phantom because they had sensors in place, but why would the Balsas’ assistant know of him too?

Could it be that Black Phantom was a very popular character on the planet?

The players were all still trying to figure out the structure, background, and the power balances on Aquamarine. They were only able to get a glimpse or two of the world through the maps, which was not helpful at all.

Everyone was suddenly curious about Black Phantom’s background.

Exploring the story of the planet and being able to participate in it was one of the joys for this game.

Bun-hit-dog focused on recording the full situation. Hiding his excitement, his instincts told him that this was definitely the best video material. Exclusive information and the identity of Black Phantom could be used as the prelude to the background of this planet.

…

While Han Xiao was getting a windfall in Green Valley Ville, the world situation was quietly changing.

Stardragon, Hesla, Red Maple, Ordina, Theseus, and Raylen—the Six Nations’ wipe out operation against the Germinal Organization had ended, and the subsequent impact was gradually emerging.

The Six Nations had only held three conferences so far. The first was held after the war in the past, when the Six Nations were first formed and the lands were first claimed.

The second conference was held two months after the war. The pollution from the war was affecting living conditions. Since it was a problem regarding the whole planet, all the nations came together to try to come out with a solution.

The third time was five years after the war, whereby the security and defense issues posed by the vagrant warlords were discussed.

The last six ruling nations on Aquamarine did not have a close relationship with one another. If it was not for a worldwide issue, they would never have worked together.

Today, the fourth Six Nations’ conference was held. The topic was about the next step in their plans regarding Germinal and whether they should go to war or not.

The conference was done in the format of a conference call, and the leaders from each of the Six Nations joined in.

In a meeting room in Stardragon Tower, the metal door was locked, and the leader of Stardragon was sitting at the desk. On the other side was a big screen where the other five leaders could be seen.

The corner of the conference room was filled with people. All of them were the elders from the military, and Gu Hui was also among them. The conference had already been going on for two hours.

“So, has everyone decided?”

Ordina’s leader was emotionless in his tone, and no one was able to tell his stand.

The leader of Theseus stood up confidently and said, “I, Raylen, and Stardragon have all agreed to send out our troops. Hesla and Red Maple object.”

Ordina pondered for two seconds. “I give up my vote.”

Everyone looked as if they had expected it.

Gu Hui, who was standing by the side, remained calm. There were two that agreed, two that objected, and one that gave up. He had already expected such results. Theus and Raylen were the toughest while Stardragon had a strong grudge with Germinal, so they would definitely not miss this chance. Hesla and Red Maple were unwilling to waste money on war. It seemed that Ordina was the greatest slimeball, always thinking about other things instead.

The six leaders discussed for another hour and finalized their direction. They all decided that the final decision was to be determined by the military forces of each nation.

The screen turned black; the three-hour meeting had officially ended.

The elders who were listening by the side seemed shocked. During the conference, it was decided that the six nations would conduct a large-scale military operation similar to the previous major war that had uprooted the political balance. The six nations would move forward and retreat together, attack the Andrea mainland from six directions, and finally destroy the Germinal Organization completely.

War is coming!

The players in Green Valley Ville took a screenshot and showed off the arrival of Black Phantom on the forum, which sparked another round of heated discussions.

“Previously, it was Big Horn Village; now, it is Green Valley Ville. Will he move on to a new location?”

“Is this high-ranking character arranged by the game developer? The times at which he appears feels weird. If he was a mechanic instructor, his whereabouts would be uncertain. Unless he is the planet protagonist who manages the information written on the net.”

“It doesn’t seem like it. I think the planet protagonist and the plot should be related. It is unlikely that we could come in contact so early. Black Phantom should be another type of mysterious character. Since it is difficult to switch vocation, could it be that Black Phantom was sent by the game developers to compensate us?”

“What! Does it mean that in order to switch our vocation, we have to do it now or else we’ll miss this opportunity with Black Phantom?”

The speculation regarding Han Xiao had not stopped, and the commotion in Big Horn Village had not subsided. His popularity had once again been pushed all the way to the top by the players in Green Valley Ville.

Han Xiao read up countless posts about himself with great interest and summed up the impressions that most players had of him.

The first kind—some players thought he was a mysterious businessman who would appear in the early stages to provide benefits to the novices.

The second kind—some thought he was a mechanic instructor.

The third kind—they thought he was an important character who was in charge of handling important tasks. Due to this statement, Han Xiao had to handle a group of players who wished to trigger hidden tasks every day. After reading about Maple Moon’s example, some players thought that by showing hostility to Germinal, they could exploit the hidden quest.

As the statements made by these people were very strange, Han Xiao rejected all of them. However, there were still players who thought they were highly charismatic and chose to explore any backhanded ways to convince Black Phantom. Since there were more female players, the leader of Sky Territory had a post saying that that would be a benefit when they talk to Black Phantom. Han Xiao was then surrounded by female players who were trying to charm him.

Yet he remained indifferent.

You think that just because you have looks, you don’t have to pay? Dream on!

However, some players were very arrogant and even tried to attack him. Han Xiao adopted the responsibility to right them of their baseless arrogance. He would kill any of these players once they resurrected to teach them a lesson. The game would only refresh the number of deaths every six days. This resurrection could also be called anti-addiction mechanism, and players who dared attack him would be forced to go offline.

These kinds of lawless players obviously played more stand-alone games. Unlike other players who were more cautious in progressing in the game, they were risk takers. No one took pity with these players. This game had been released globally, and there would definitely be a rare madman who wanted to challenge the entire game world; they were used to it.

One player after another queued to pass Han Xiao their money, and Han Xiao realized the mechanics department had attracted quite a number of players. However, as there was a request for the gifts to be sent directly this time round, some petty players were rather hesitant. As a result, the queue was also rather sparse.

Han Xiao just went with it and browsed through the forum at one side. Suddenly, a new post caught his attention. The topic was Galaxy Times.

The column is released! Han Xiao’s face changed as he felt the nostalgia.

Galaxy Times was a sub-column, and the content varied. The column talked about the news on Galaxy, including all kinds of anecdotes, stories from professional players, and analysis of the game process. Han Xiao had once been a follower of Galaxy Times, and he would always have the urge to be the first to watch it. Now that he himself had joined the game, he was unsure if the content would have changed.

In the video, a male and a female host were sitting in front of the camera, like a news broadcast. Behind them was the scene of Galaxy, showing the background of the new planets.

“Hello players,” the male host greeted, “this is Galaxy Times, dedicated to sharing first-hand game information. Your gaming career is our top priority.”

“The public beta has been going on for ten days, and the players’ enthusiasm has not changed a bit,” the female host said. “Now let us first review what has happened in the past ten days…”

The first issue of the Galaxy Times was informative, and the next ten minutes was a quick review of the beta players during the ten days, introducing the various planets and the civilization background. Among them, there was a planet with an ancient civilization, where players were mostly wearing amour, carrying swords, spears, and hammers as weapons. Their background looked like a mix of Chinese and Western medieval times. It was obvious this planet was dominated by martial arts and magic. If there was a need to add a subtitle to the plot, it should be ‘World Hegemony’ and ‘I Will Use Your Skull as a Bowl’.

There was also a highly-modern planet called Planet Brighton. The city was like a floating island with ninety-nine towers scattered on the edge of the city, forming a defense, and the main tower in the city center. The large crystal ball at the top of the tower provided magical power to suspend the city. Occasionally, there would be sightings of a dragon across the sky. New players would have a slim chance of survival in this world as it was very easy to hit the death limit.

Of course, there was an even more difficult way to start, and that would be Planet Winterfrost. The base of the Hell Demon Military Troop was also the only one where players could see the Galaxy Starships. Hell Demon Military Troop’s starships were crazy powerful, and this planet was a mix of magic and technology.

The troops themselves had powerful combat power. They could also ride the cosmic creatures into space for a short while, and their level was high. Fortunately, Planet Winterfrost was just a sub-base camp for the troop. Otherwise, the American players who chose Planet Winterfrost as the base camp would not even be able to get out of the novice village.

The richer the resources were for the novice planet, the more challenging it would be at the beginning. In contrast, the difficulty of Aquamarine was moderate, and the technological background was similar to that of many years ago. Unlike other planets where even trash cans on the street could incite the player’s curiosity, there were not many surprises on Aquamarine.

However, the popularity of Aquamarine on the forums was rising, and the main reason was the appearance of Black Phantom. He was the first high-ranking character to interact with the players.

The two hosts then turned around and talked about the Black Phantom.

“Next, we’ll talk about an incident that happened in Aquamarine, and friends who have been active on the forum all know that Black Phantom is the first mysterious high ranking character to appear in front of the players. The players do not have much information about him. Qiu Qiu, what role do you think he plays in the plot of Aquamarine?” the male host asked.

“Based on the current information, Black Phantom seems to have a high position, and his identity is extremely mysterious as well. Furthermore, he and Germinal are enemies.

“Oh, does this mean he’s on the same side as the Six Nations?”

“I am not sure. Perhaps only the developers can answer this question.”

“Alright, after listening to this lame joke, let us return to the topic,” the male host said. “Speaking of the Black Phantom, he seems to be a mechanic instructor and can expose hidden plots. The latest news suggests that Black Phantom has appeared in Green Valley Ville of Aquamarine. Therefore, friends who wish to transfer to the mechanic class should seize the opportunity. The Black Phantom is by far the easiest way to obtain the knowledge.

“However, there has been a different opinion on the forums recently. Some players who transferred to the mechanics department are starting to regret.”

The female host feigned her surprise, “There is such a thing?”

There was a quarrel at this point, and most of the players had been simply choosing their vocation based on which vocation was the strongest. After they had switched to being a mechanic, they found out that mechanics were not up to their expectations and would naturally be full of complains.

Before the topic came to an end with the two hosts, Han Xiao looked at the responses and saw one response at the top. The ID was called ‘Luzman’.

“I am a beta player in Big Horn Village. A few days ago I changed my vocation to mechanics with Black Phantom. Initially, I thought this is a very strong class, but after switching, I realised that being a mechanic is totally different from what I had expected. The skills are trashy and the equipment are easily damaged, but I could only repair them after I have bought the materials. My gun just died like this! I’m so mad!

“The combat power is rather weak too. One public beta test player who was 4 levels lower than me came up for a challenge. He didn’t even have a main vocation, and his sub-vocation was a mere [Hunter]. We fought for 11 rounds, and yet I didn’t win any of them at all! For a main vocation to lose to a sub-vocation, while being 4 levels higher, this mechanic vocation is just a pile of shit.”

… I was fooled by that video of Black Phantom. Damn I was scammed. Those senior NPCs always have NPC templates as bonuses. Black Spirit is not even a player! His combat power doesn’t even have much of a tingle!

… This mechanic vocation is so weak in its early stages. Maybe it would be as strong as Black Phantom’s eventually, but you will be starting way behind others from the beginning. It takes even longer to reach the same level as the rest! What’s more, the mechanic vocation relies on machineries, and the materials used to make the machinery costs a lot of money. This class is perfect for the local tyrants. If you don’t have money, don’t even try!

This mechanic vocation has no future, seems like I cannot use this account anymore. I can only restart another account and retrain. What a trash vocation!”

Luzman’s response was full of resentment. He had even uploaded videos of him losing in battles. Many people had echoed him in the comments, pushing his post to the top of the responses.

After glancing through other posts, Han Xiao realised that most of the posts had traces of Luzman. That guy copied and pasted the comments so many times. Many others found his resentment to be over the top and they argued with Luzman on the forum too.

Han Xiao narrowed his eyes. This was not totally unexpected. The players would realise sooner or later that the mechanic vocation is not suitable for combat in the early stages. Luzman was the first one and he would not be the last. These grievous people only fell for the trap because they were attracted by his video and had simply chose whichever vocation that was strong. The moment they realise that it wasn’t what they had imagined, they would feel deceived and angry.

There were also players who liked the mechanic vocation who ignored these useless arguments and complaints. Some players were in the game for entertainment while others wanted to be the strongest in the game. Luzman was clearly one of the latter.

These negative comments would definitely affect his business, and since there was only one chance to choose a main vocation, players would become more cautious, especially first-time players.

Han Xiao shook his head. He had wanted to attract more players into the pit of mechanic vocation to expand his market.

“Seems like I have to reaffirm players in the value of the mechanic vocation, I can’t just rely on displaying my strength…”

The programme continued running. Off the script, the male MC said, “we have just received the unreleased promo clip on the next version of the game from Galaxy. Do take a look. ”

The screen began to play another video. Just as what <Galaxy> had announced, this promo video focused on the battle scenes of each vocation.

The heavy armoured knight appeared full of energy. The tip of his gun emitted smoke, and it hit a group of iron-shielded guards. The crash was loud like a thunder, and bodies were flying all over.

A tribe with horns controlled the elements around them. Flames slithered and wrapped around their body like a snake.

A magician stood in his cloak, and a web of light appeared beneath his feet as he chanted. Light rays of magic shone out from his fingers.

The bald-headed sorcerer used his mind to manipulate objects around him. He released an invisible strike his opponents around him, causing them to fall one by one with their noses bleeding.

The clips were all very realistic. It was gorgeous!

This was only a demo of the promotional clip. Nothing was finalised. The clips were recorded by new players from every planet, and there were only a few clips from senior players for the time being. They barely got together the battle scenes of the five main vocations. The battle scene for mechanic vocation was a clip of Black Phantom in action. Han Xiao was the first advance player to demonstrate his combat power.

There were a several clips showing the jaw dropping scene at Big Horn Village, as well as scenes of the interception battle at Tedramira River. Sniper, rifles, turrets, squadrons, and even the vicious Fury Blade was featured in the clip.

The players was all engrossed in the scenes. They were all exhilarating moments.

“I didn’t know I got selected to be in the promotional video!”

Han Xiao was a little surprised. He still remembered last season’s promotional video. The scene for the Mechanic vocation was just the process to produce a machinery, and most players assumed that it was a more of a support role. Hence, only a few players switched to the mechanic vocation.

According to the first version, the proportion of players in the mechanic vocation was only 9.7%! This promotional video alone attracted tons of interest from the players. Mechanic vocation wouldn’t be as bleak as before. He wasn’t afraid to risk players complaining and regretting on the forum in exchange for attracting more players over.

This promotional video also improved his popularity, and this was much more effective than word of mouth. Han Xiao was overjoyed. He expected his fame to shoot up in no time.

The next line-up on the programme was about professional players. The male MC said, “Within 10 days of public beta, tons of famous e-sports clubs have shifted to the game <Galaxy>, and according to statistics, Esper is currently the most popular one. This class is a lucky draw, if you get a high level skill, it is equal to 10 million lottery tickets! The future is unlimited!

It is known that the United States, South Korea, France, Japan and Switzerland all have accounts with A-class potential rating, and the various big clubs have offered prices for these accounts, worth millions of US dollars.”

The screen flashed wildly. Almost a million US dollars to buy a novice account? It was simply a lottery! Good luck would mean making a fortune immediately.

“Flashing News: The American Devil Club, Sandstorm Club, France Tulip Club, and the Korean Four Star Club have already bought the accounts. They will be used by the club’s elite players.

And the God-level players will still be using their own accounts… American elite player ‘King and Queen’ has changed to the magician vocation and was rewarded with a rare skill through a hidden quest. French elite player ‘Lost Angel’ has chosen to start at random and he seems to have obtained a opportunity. South Korea…”

Foreign e-sports players all seemed to be performing very well. China’s e-sports scene wasn’t weak either, but only a few managed to hit the top spots. Champions of many events had long been occupied by players from the United States, France, Japan and South Korea. If you coud win a championship, local players would celebrate as though it was a festival. They would be bringing honour to their country.

“Local players are performing rather well. A player by the name of ‘Feng Yue’ completed the reward pool quest on her own, gaining over hundreds of thousands of experience points, becoming the biggest winner. It is extremely beneficial for her future development. Who knows, maybe the advantages would come snowballing in. This task was related to Black Phantom…

A dark horse by the ID of ‘Fury Blade’ was among the professional players. During a meeting at Jiang Cheng club where Fury Blade was at yesterday, they had released a video. It was the battle scene in the promotional clip with Black Phantom, and I believe everyone had also noticed Fury Blade. He seemed to have triggered Black Phantom’s hidden quest…”

The clip of Fury Blade was sent in by Luminous Moon. In order to raise their profile, the club had used it for publicity, just when the Chinese professional players were feeling down about their lack of outstanding performances. This brought Fury Blade lots of attention.

“… This would be the end of this week’s content, we look forward to seeing you next time! The following are details for the lucky draw. During this episode, how many times was Black Phantom mentioned? Please drop a message to the official account. We will draw 10 people…”

Han Xiao couldn’t stop laughing. He then switched off the screen.

Han Xiao’s name came up the most in the entire show. The audience had the perception that that everything good had some kind of correlation to Black Phantom:

Black Phantom = Opportunity!

Han Xiao didn’t expect that his name to appear on the screen so many times. His plan had some good returns. His popularity rose yet again. And more importantly, after the programme was broadcasted, more players would come aboard to change their vocation, allowing him to earn more experience points.

He did a rough estimate, based on this trend, the number of mechanic players on Aquamarine would likely be two or three levels higher than previously.

There were some wild beasts spotted around the Green Valley Ville, and they had been causing problems for the town. Before Han Xiao came, Balsas had used some small sums as a bounty to incentivize the refugees to hunt down the beasts. Slowly, he had noticed something strange: the refugees would be able to hunt down the wild beasts without any casualties. After some observation, he found out to his surprise that these refugees seemed to have revival Espers and would never really die.

Balsas was shocked. It might have been normal for one person to have the revival Esper ability, but it would be a different story for an entire group. Could it be that this ability could be spread, just like the werewolf tribe in myths, where one’s saliva carried the mutated genes and could turn a normal person into another of their kind in one bite?

After some observation, Balsas was excited to find out that the refugees were easily satisfied by small incentives.

If I can get these strange refugees to work for me, their revival trait will make for a formidable army! I won’t have to fear anyone from Black Pine anymore.

Even though these refugees have revival abilities, they had limited combat strength. Balsas had asked them about their origins, but their answers were mostly gibberish. Despite some unresolved doubts about the refugees’ background, Balsas decided it was alright to go ahead and trade with them for their services.

He was about to take action when Black Phantom arrived and was warmly welcomed by the refugees. Balsas was alarmed.

Is Black Phantom here for these refugees too? Does he know about their ability as well?

Black Phantom was not someone to mess with, so Balsas decided to stay put and observe for the moment. However, an accident broke out—the beasts residing near the town attacked.

Countless wild beasts came from the jungle and caused the ground to rumble.

Gray Devil Wolves made up the majority. Their fur was charcoal gray, and they were as big as wild buffalos. There were also giant purple-scaled pythons that were ten to twenty meters long, slithering among the wolves.

Beasts in the wild were common, and they were a threat faced by every town. Balsas commanded for the town to be locked up without hesitation and asked his soldiers to ready the machine guns on the watchtowers to fight the beasts. Players that were left outside the town became the buffer zone for them to hold off the beasts. Balsas was glad that he had refugees that could be sacrificed at no cost.

Mature Gray Devil Wolves were about LV 20. They pounced into the crowd and ripped apart a player in two to three bites.

_____________________

You have started emergency quest [Protect Green Valley Ville]!

_____________________

Besides the normal players, Han Xiao received the emergency quest, too. However, to his dismay, the reward was at a newbie standard at only a few thousand Experience. Han Xiao watched with great interest at one side as the players fought against the beasts.

Balsas realized that Han Xiao had crawled to the top of the town wall while he was not looking and was watching the battle intensely. Balsas was alarmed. Black Phantom was able to silently crawl up the wall when so many people were staring down at the town wall; this meant that he could silently creep up on anyone he wanted to as well. Indeed, he was living up to his reputation as a skilled and accomplished assassin.

The players gave it their all to protect the town. The situation was bloody and violent. The players were not in complete defeat only because of the aid from the town’s machine guns. Han Xiao closely watched the players’ performances. Green Valley Ville consisted mainly of players from two classes—Esper and Mechanic.

He saw many different Espers: Attribute-boosting, Superhuman Strength, Stamina, Speed, Instant Healing, and elemental controls, which included skills such as gathering rocks or fortifying armor using rocks. There was a plethora of Espers, but most were low-level and short-lasting. They were dealing some damage to the wolves, but only a few Esper players were more notable.

The fight between the players and the beasts was a rough one, so some players were live-streaming the battle on the forum.

Han Xiao narrowed his eyes. He decided to join and end this battle quickly. With that, he jumped off the wall.

Activating his electromagnetic hover-boots, he moved as if there was ice under his feet. He dived into the battle like a bolt of black lightning, zooming through the battlefield, straight to a relatively smaller Gray Devil Wolf, which was old and had little fur left. It was the leader of the pack, and Han Xiao noticed it when he was observing just now.

Han Xiao decided not to snipe these beasts. Sniping would limit the area damage, and he had limited ammo with him. It was the perfect chance for him to see what he could do with his LV 50 attributes against these LV 20 beasts.

Beasts were common on Planet Aquamarine. When fighting against beasts in large scales, he would not dive in alone. It would be extremely dangerous because it would be exposing him to high frequency attacks from all sides.

The herd of beasts in Gray Valley Ville was very small in numbers. With only thousands of wolves and snakes, Han Xiao could afford to show off his attributes.

A few strong-built Gray Devil Wolves immediately surrounded the Wolf King. With the howl from the old Wolf King, its guards pounced toward Han Xiao.

Han Xiao was clad full-body in his magnetically controlled retractable armor. He raised his arm to block off the sharp claws of the wolves, and the clashing sound was resounding. He was fighting off wolves, which were four to five times larger than him.

He had 69 points in his Strength attribute, way higher than the LV 20 Gray Devil Wolves. His fingers dug into the flesh of a wolf’s claws and threw the wolf over his head and onto the floor like a ragdoll. But unlike a ragdoll, the wolf landed and created a dent in the ground, whimpering.

Players who saw this scene were shocked. The scene was very impactful. It was as if a dwarf was throwing a normal person over their shoulders.

Han Xiao was elated to find out how strong his body was. His fists landed on a wolf like a pile driver with solid thuds. Every punch was filled with power that dealt damage right into the wolves’ lungs. A wolf was flung away, but it would get up and lunge again, only to be flung away once more. The place that was hit would be marked with a deep purple bruises.

The wolves began to crowd in to protect the Wolf King. Han Xiao’s view was filled with wolves that were attacking him with claws and fangs from all angles. The retractable armor clashed with the sharp claws, and sparks were flying. Han Xiao could barely hold the weight of the wolves off from all sides, let alone move.

It’s indeed very difficult to kill and get through the beast crowd. Han Xiao changed his plan and activated the Repulsive Force Generator, which sent a pushing force out and flung all the surrounding wolves into the wolves at the back.

With his path cleared, Han Xiao pushed with his foot and turned up the speed of his hover-boots. Wind was howling as he approached in the Wolf King at high speed. He blocked off the ferocious attacks from the Wolf King, grabbed the wolf’s head, and twisted it, throwing it to the ground. He pressed his knee tightly against the wolf’s stomach and pressed on its head with his left hand. Clenching his right fist, it landed right on the wolf’s head. The Wolf King’s head was crushed after a few punches. Blood spilled everywhere.

Every time he punched, the power surging through his muscles, tendons, and bones was like a tight bow that stored great strength. It was greatly satisfying to feel at ease and in control of such great strength.

A Wolf’s critical region was their stomach, but Han Xiao preferred attacking the head more.

After a few punches, the Wolf King was only a few breaths away from death. The wolf pack was howling and had all abandoned the enemies to attack Han Xiao. A huge pack of wolves piled on top of him like a small hill. Han Xiao was pressed against the floor.

The pungent wolf smell filled Han Xiao’s nostrils, and his face became scrunched up. He was almost choking. His sharp sense allowed him to identify the components of the smell.

Wolves’ urine, soil, sweat, dried excrement, and… Eh‽

Pushing on the ground with both hands, he managed to support the weight of the huge pack of wolves on his back. Each wolf weighed at least eighty kilograms. While it was very taxing, Han Xiao finally spotted an opening and quickly tumbled out, simultaneously pulling out a hand grenade from his clothes and tossing it underneath the pack of wolves.

Boom!

A muffled sound erupted, and fragments of the grenade shot out with the flames caused by the explosion. The pack of wolves howled mournfully as fresh blood gushed out from their bodies. Han Xiao’s armor was also splattered red. Staggering as he stood up, his hand brushed past his side as he brandished a foldable machete that had undergone many modifications. It was newly improved and could be said to be a royal-edition.

Han Xiao nimbly sprinted through the pack of wolves, his blade slashing through his enemies, bringing waves of fresh blood along his path. The venomous poison spat out by the purple-scaled python could not catch up to his footwork. With a flash of his blade, he sliced off the snake’s head. The blade wound where the snake was decapitated was as smooth as a mirror, with fresh blood spurting continuously as the headless snake convulsed uncontrollably on the floor.

All the wild beasts rushed toward him. Purely by borrowing the speed from the Skating Shoes and the defense from the magnetically controlled retractable armor, he could single-handedly massacre the flock of beasts. The players were left to the side-lines as they could only stare in shock and bewilderment as Han Xiao killed every beast that came his way.

He was a Mechanic, so how did he end up in a melee close-range fight?

The players’ eyes were all drawn to Han Xiao’s elegant fighting style. It was undeniable that he was really suave. He was redefining the way most of them viewed Mechanics!

It turned out that it was not true that Mechanics could only fight long-distance. Their close-quarter combat skill was also of note and could be very aggressive. Also, they had a clear style of close-quarter combat that was distinctly different from pugilists.

Frenzied Sword finally came online as he arrived at the outskirts of the town, out of breath. Seeing the situation with the wild beasts, it was also his first time watching Han Xiao display his skills. In that moment, he felt that he had found his guiding light. This was exactly the fighting style that he loved! One can tell just by looking at his ID!

Choosing to follow Han Xiao was definitely the best decision! Frenzied Sword could barely suppress his excitement; he really did make the right choice back then!

Not only Frenzied Sword, but a lot of other players were influenced by what has been going on in the forums. Players who were contemplating on whether to change classes began to take interest in Mechanics again.

After killing however many wolves and snakes, Han Xiao’s field of vision suddenly cleared. He realized that the wolf pack was gradually withdrawing amid whimpers, and the group of purple-scaled pythons fled as well. Soon, the wild pack of beasts had all retreated, leaving corpses strewn across the floors, soaking the ground in bright-red blood.

He exhaled a breath and wiped off the traces of blood left on his armor. With his stats, dealing with such low-level beasts would leave them completely crushed. He still had forty percent of his stamina left.

Mechanics rarely fought their enemies by close-combat. However, doing this occasionally did make him feel refreshed. Rather than using a fighting style that relied on sniping, which would lead to an instant death with each shot, this kind of real fist fighting feeling was much more suitable for destressing.

Green Valley Ville’s guards came out to clean up the battlefield, carrying the dead corpses of the wild beasts back to the town as food supplies. Han Xiao rejected Bashas’ repeated invitation. Under the eyes of the excited players, he returned to his original position indifferently, pretending to rest as he closed his eyes.

The interface indicated that the mission was complete. Also, he killed over a hundred beasts, obtaining more than 20,000 Experience points in total. As his own level was much higher than his massacred targets, the Experience points he gained would be cut down by a lot, but no matter how small it was, it was Experience nonetheless. The almighty Mechanic Han would not mind it at all. The main purpose behind this fight was to test his current reflexes and to have a clearer understanding on his physical caliber. Only by doing that could he take care of smaller details in future battles and perform at his best. Another reason was that he wanted to continue to show off a Mechanic’s abilities. He realized that Esper players often showed off their coolest abilities, but new Mechanic players were still a minority. He guessed that Mechanics would become a class that would be questioned, so he wanted to shift the players’ focus from Espers by showing them how Mechanics could be great players too.

Opening the forum, Han Xiao realized that there were players who had uploaded a video footage of the fight just now. The title was shocking.

“Overpowered! Mechanics can actually fight like this!”

The recording showed Han Xiao almost single-handedly conquering a wild-beast fight. The visuals were very impactful. In the past, he had mainly used sniping, killing his enemies in one shot, or used his turrets’ and rovers’ high firepower, but he had never showed off his individual fighting ability. This time, he highlighted this, and the real-time comments and replies mostly conveyed shock and amazement.

But he realized that below the post, there was a reply that was manually pushed up. Looking at the ID, it was Luzman. His tone was as harsh as before.

“Black Phantom is indeed very strong, I won’t deny that, but Mechanics are really trash. Look carefully at the start of the video. Espers are the central force when fighting with wild beasts, and those players who advanced to become Mechanics can only sit at the side and fire aimlessly without a single use for them.

“I presume this clip was probably recorded by a Mechanic. Other than the Mechanics who can be idling at one side, I guess no other players would have this kind of time in an actual fight…

“Also, stop sharing Black Phantom’s videos, this asshole wants to trick me into becoming a Mechanic again!”

As he continued down the post, the replies split into those who supported Luzman and those who disagreed with him.

Han Xiao smacked his lips. He was a little annoyed. Luzman held onto that point and had been smearing his reputation. This would be a hindrance to his business. The players’ attention was drawn toward this discussion. His display of abilities seemed to be less impactful now. With Han Xiao’s rich experience in discussion, with one look, he could tell that Luzman was a keyboard warrior who posted derogatory comments everywhere to trigger fights online.

Scratching his head, Han Xiao did not really have a good solution to this. This was a discussion that would obviously come up, just like picking between sweet tofu or salty tofu. As long as nobody restricted it, there was no way to stop others from commenting online.

But I’m only an NPC now. Even if I showed off my abilities, it isn’t enough to get more people to believe in Mechanics. There isn’t anything else that I can do either; it’s not like I can go in front of the players and shout ‘I’m actually a player’… Han Xiao felt helpless.

The NPC template was his secret that he did not want to disclose. From the perspective of a player though, seeing an NPC shout “I’m a player” would only cause them to feel curious and amused. Not many would believe it to be true, and most would think that it was an easter egg or a character design, just like Deadpool.

There were some simulation games in the past where fictional characters inside would say that they knew of the players’ existence, but who would believe it to be true? Those who really did believe it had already been corrected by Yang Technologies.

The smell of blood had yet to fade away. Frenzied Sword, who had run over from a distance away, attracted the attention of the players. Galaxy Times had announced his movements, and Frenzied Sword had gained some short-lived fame. He was recognized in a moment.

The players around them began whispering to one another, looking in envy.

“Isn’t that the professional gamer mentioned by the program? He has a picture on the promotional ad.”

“He really does have a special relationship with Black Phantom.”

“I want to unlock a hidden quest with the Black Phantom, too.”

Frenzied Sword waddled over to Han Xiao’s side.

Han Xiao regarded this player, who had some potential, well. It was alright to embarrass Frenzied Sword in front of NPCs, but he did not have the heart to do so in front of the crowd of players. No matter what, Frenzied Sword was also a professional gamer, and his image was very important.

Han Xiao randomly assigned some regular mission. When Frenzied Sword received the mission, his face was overcome with disappointment.

“Collect materials? That’s so boring. You might as well tell me to dance.”

Han Xiao’s lips curved up. Habits were indeed scary.

Just then, a player walked over. The ID above his head read ‘Laughing Blade’. He asked, “Frenzied Sword?”

Once Frenzied Sword saw this person, his face fell as he dryly replied, “It’s you. So, you’re here to play Galaxy as well. Why aren’t you playing Knight anymore?”

“Haha, it’s not challenging enough,” Laughing Blade said half-mockingly.

Some players recognized Laughing Blade.

“Isn’t that the professional gamer, Laughing Blade?”

“I heard he was one of the top three players in Knight; he even won two championships before.”

Laughing Blade enjoyed the players’ surprise thoroughly. His eyes hid feelings of condescension as he looked at Frenzied Sword.

In the past, Frenzied Sword had also been a professional gamer in Knight. In official competitions, he had suffered countless defeats to Laughing Blade, and his fame was far from that of Laughing Blade.

Laughing Blade saw the rewards assigned to Frenzied Sword on Galaxy Times and realized that his old opponent was better-off than him. Feeling green from jealousy, he intentionally came to stir up trouble. After a few words, he pretended to ask casually, “Since we’ve met, let’s have a PVP duel. I’m an Esper, what about you?”

“… Mechanic.”

Frenzied Sword was slightly hesitant. Even though he was under Han Xiao’s mentorship, his current Mechanic abilities were very unsuited for battle. Subconsciously, he wanted to reject the duel.

Unexpectedly, Laughing Blade suddenly said, “Since we’ve known each other for so many years, let’s have a friendly duel. You can’t possibly reject a small request like this, or do you look down on me?”

Frenzied Sword was speechless. Those words made it hard for him to reject. There was no need to have a falling out with someone in the same industry over something small like this.

Laughing Blade laughed coldly in his mind. He had said that because he was afraid that Frenzied Sword would reject the deal. He wanted to have a duel with Frenzied Sword only because he had gained some popularity on Galaxy.

Once he obtained some fame, it made him easy to become someone else’s prey.

If he were to defeat Frenzied Sword, he could probably tone down the latter’s popularity. For a professional gamer who had attended a program to be defeated by him, he could become a little more famous as well.

Laughing Blade was very confident. He felt that an awakened Esper was quite strong. His elementary application was a rock-earth fusion armor that was suitable for defense. It was strong against pistols, so he felt that his chances of winning were quite high.

Even if he were to lose, he could test the gap between them. Anyway, at this point, they would not die. Laughing Blade felt that this deal only had benefits to him, and he would not have any losses.

Also… he looked toward Black Phantom, who was standing at one side, his gaze lighting up.

If Frenzied Sword can unlock a hidden quest, I’ll give it a try too!

Han Xiao watched with interest from the side. Laughing Blade? No impression of him. Probably not important enough in Galaxy.

Frenzied Sword would eventually become a Legendary player in the future, but right now, he was bowing his head to Laughing Blade. This scene left him feeling nostalgic. For some reason, it brought him back to those days in the past, when he first started. Back then, there was a point in time when his power-levelling business was dwindling. To find other ways to get income, he had entered a small office to help them mine gold to earn some rewards. That office often forced him to work over-time and cut his pay. Asking them about pay would only elicit answers that were nothing short of excuses.

The office’s boss took advantage of being a business owner. When Han Xiao asked about his pay for the ninth time and started arguing with him, the boss told him that if he wanted to continue, he could; if he was not going to continue, he could just scram. If he continued to complain, then he would PK him until his level reached 0.

What else could Han Xiao do, he was also very exasperated. All he could do was to use his main account to show the boss why the business was doing so well. For a few weeks, he massacred all the players in the office till it suffered heavy losses and was on the verge of closing down. Then, he earned a reasonably large amount of reimbursement in exchange for his emotional losses.

In-game blackmailing was not illegal.

Aye, the happy times are gone, there’s no turning back. Han Xiao puffed as he smoked. As he overcame his obstacles, he could only appreciate it now because of his past experiences.

Frenzied Sword could only accept Laughing Blade’s request. Currently, he was LV 11, way ahead of average players’ levels. Other than a Mechanic’s repairing and reinforcement skills, he could only use basic shooting and fighting skills.

Han Xiao had complete understanding of Frenzied Sword’s fighting abilities. With a flash in his eyes, he called out to Frenzied Sword. “Come here.”

Frenzied Sword was a little confused as he followed orders accordingly. Han Xiao took off his thermo-electrical incisor gloves, secretly giving them to him.

With a look at the gloves’ stats, Frenzied Sword’s breathing stopped for a moment, his face overcome with shock and surprise.

“I’m only lending them to you; you have to return them.” Han Xiao erased Frenzied Sword’s unrealistic hopes.

Frenzied Sword was still very touched. It was the right decision to suck up to Han Xiao, he could even receive such a benefit! Is it because he’s afraid that I’ll lose, making him lose face?

Putting on the gloves, Frenzied Sword had a greater sense of confidence. Standing fifteen meters apart from Laughing Blade, both of them braced themselves, getting ready to attack.

Nearby, players began crowding around to watch the show. They were mainly curious about Frenzied Sword and wanted to see the difference between a professional gamer who had his name reported on the system and a regular player.

“Even if he is a professional player, he should be about the same level in these early stages.”

“With only a few basic abilities, he probably can’t show off his mechanic abilities as well.”

“I think there’s an advantage in these early stages. Maybe he’s practiced fighting before in real-life, or he’s someone who was in the military. After all, the controls here are so realistic.”

The players murmured to one another.

With a low cry, Laughing Blade made the first move, launching himself forward. With every step, the sand on the ground wrapped itself around his calves and snaked up to his body, forming a sandstone armor covering his body.

His pistol can only fire at most five shots, and my abilities can definitely hold him off. As long as I close the distance between us, he’s definitely finished! Laughing Blade thought.

The players were all new. The level of their control was only at a level where they understood how to use the skills and what they did. Laughing Blade’s decision was correct, but Frenzied Sword’s reaction gave Laughing Blade a shock. Instead of moving back and using the pistol to kite him, he rushed forward instead.

Both people quickly collided into one another. Without thinking twice, Laughing Blade sent his fist, which was wrapped in sandstone armor, flying toward Frenzied Sword, and Frenzied Sword met his fist with his black-gloved palm.

Could this glove be special equipment?

Just as Laughing Blade had this thought, he suddenly experienced a series of burning pains. Stunned, he realized that his health points were reduced to zero in that moment.

His vision turned black as he immediately died.

From the start to end, this duel only lasted three seconds!

On the battlefield, only Frenzied Sword remained. The wind blew up the edges of his clothes. Expressionless, he truly resembled a solitary professional at the top of his game.

The surrounding players watched, dazed, unable to react.

“Was… was that an instant KO?”

“That’s way too fast!”

“Too overpowered! No wonder he could get on Galaxy Times!”

“Could the secret quest really have given him such a huge lead over the rest of us‽”

Everyone was a new player. Technically, their battle power should have been about the same. Using a pistol, it would take at least four or five shots before one would die, and Laughing Blade’s Esper ability obviously strengthened his defense. Some players remembered Laughing Blade’s performance during the wild-beast attack. When he was surrounded by two gray wolves, he was still able to hold them off. But when he fought with Frenzied Sword, he died instantly just by meeting fists with him?

What kind of godly attack power was this?

Everyone stared at Frenzied Sword’s glove, envy showing on their faces.

“That is high-level equipment!”

“Mechanics can make something like that? I thought they could only make guns!”

“I really want one too…”

Not long after, the revived Laughing Blade ran over, his face looking dark as he said unhappily, “Didn’t we agree that it would be a friendly battle? How could you… you…”

He originally wanted to say how could he have killed him, but he felt that saying it would be too shameful.

Having defeated an old opponent, Frenzied Sword only felt refreshed from being able to settle all the discontent from the past as he chuckled. “Sorry, I didn’t know you were so vulnerable.”

This sentence made Laughing Blade so angry that he could felt the heat rising up from his chest.

Calling me vulnerable for dying‽

It was a complete loss for him. Dying once cost him a lot of Experience. Laughing Blade was very upset. He initially thought that once the duel reached a certain point, they would end it, but he did not expect to be an instant-killed, not to mention he could not even blame Frenzied Sword. He was so distressed that he could feel his heart tightening up over this horrible situation.

After the crowd around them had left, Frenzied Sword obediently returned the gloves to Han Xiao, hesitating as he asked, “Han… Black Phantom, are you selling these gloves?”

Han Xiao looked at him from the side of his eye, opening up the shop listing as he added “thermo-electrical incisor gloves” at a fixed price of 80,000 with a reputation of 15 points. This set of gloves was a prize that he had seized from Rose Militant. After learning the basic knowledge upfront, he had instead experimented to create the blueprints to create the thermo-electrical incisor gloves. By spending some Experience, he could make one on his own now.

Frenzied Sword was instantly motivated. Excitedly, he clenched his fists. This close-combat equipment designed for Mechanics was his favorite. “I can’t afford it now, but I will be able to, sooner or later!”

Then, Laughing Blade suddenly inched closer. His gaze lit, he stared at Han Xiao and asked, “Black Phantom, I heard you’re enemies with Germinal. I want to join you.”

In this time frame, the discussion board had all sorts of different guesses as to how one could trigger the Black Phantom’s secret quest. They thought that as long as one showed their intention to become Germinal’s enemies, there was a chance that they could trigger Black Phantom’s secret quest. Many players were guessing the phrase to trigger that. In his short time in Green Valley Ville, Han Xiao had heard several of such guesses and had rejected them all. This led the players to a final conclusion—it was all about possibility when one was trying to trigger Black Phantom’s secret quest.

Laughing Blade was also trying his luck.

Han Xiao raised an eyebrow and said, “Oh… You seem to be not bad.”

There’s a lead! Laughing Blade grinned in surprise.

Frenzied Sword’s heart fell. Getting nervous, he could feel a strong sense of discomfort welling within him for some reason.

“But you don’t seem to be up to par yet.” Han Xiao suddenly changed his words as he waved, rejecting Laughing Blade.

Laughing Blade had not even finished his breath and was left speechless for a while. His expression was annoyed. With his heart full of jealousy toward Frenzied Sword, he muttered to himself in anger, “This guy is really some lucky dog.”

Frenzied Sword heaved a sigh of relief, regaining his composure.

Han Xiao almost laughed aloud upon seeing Frenzied Sword’s reaction, as if he were a guy who had almost been cheated on…

Pfft, what kind of description was that? What would that make me? Han Xiao tossed aside this crazy idea.

On the interface, quite an amount of Experience had accumulated. For players in Green Valley Ville who intended to change their class, they all would have completed that by the next day. Han Xiao would prepare to leave after that.

While he was collecting Experience, someone recorded Frenzied Sword and Laughing Blade’s battle and uploaded it onto the forum.

…

Luzman was a player who came from Big Horn Village. By luck, he had managed to get into the phases of beta-testing and had been saving his money before he switched his class. He wanted to join the strongest class.

When it was time for public testing, he saw Black Phantom’s battle and was captivated. Hurriedly, he wanted to switch to become a Mechanic. Other players tried to complete tasks to improve their relationship with Black Phantom, but Luzman could not wait. He used his money to gain five reputation points with Black Phantom. From the five basic knowledges that Black Phantom taught, he learned [Basic Weaponry Knowledge] as he liked this name the most.

But Luzman quickly realized that Mechanics were not as strong as Black Phantom made them out to be. After losing continuously in the duel, he felt that he had been cheated; this class was way too weak! But he could not bear to abandon his beta-testing account and had asked the customer service if he could change his class, but that was of course not possible, leaving him infuriated.

What a waste of having this opportunity to enter the beta test! This account is useless now!

Luzman had been extremely frustrated. Going onto the forums, he had put up posts everywhere, regardless of topic. He had planned to thoroughly bash the Mechanic class by repeating how trashy it was and let all of the players know that Mechanic was a trashy class!

Players had debated after his comments. Initially, Luzman had been satisfied with what he saw. That was his original intention. He had also enjoyed the feeling of his words being taken seriously by others.

Scrolling through the forum, Luzman realized that he had been tagged. He clicked into the post, and there was a video of Frenzied Sword and Laughing Blade dueling, and people were gloatingly asking him to explain himself.

Luzman had recently gone crazy hard on mechanics on the various forums. His stance was not the most annoying thing; him posting everywhere was what annoyed people the most. He constantly forced people to read his post as if they were not already aware of his comments. This behavior made him loathed by everyone.

“@Luzman, a Mechanic has killed an Esper. Why don’t you come out and explain?”

After watching the video, Luzman immediately retorted, “This is just a rare instance. That Laughing Blade did not know how to play at all!”

“Ha, you’ve suffered consecutive duel losses, but how did someone else win? Just admit you’re a rookie, Luzman.”

Luzman stifled his anger and replied, “Frenzied Sword has triggered a secret quest. He was more advanced in rank and equipment; there is no point in battling!”

“Do you mean the equipment given by NPCs isn’t enough? Then what for are you doing missions for? Taking rewards for what? Collecting money for what? Just admit you’re a rookie and stand still when being scolded!”

Damn it! Luzman was fuming, he straight away came back. “What I said about Mechanics being weak was none of your business!”

“Then why are you posting that everywhere? Think before you speak, won’t you?”

Luzman was exasperated. “Damn you, can you stop barking? Are you that low for you to come and be scolded by me!”

“Finally, your true colors have shown. You’re a troll, stop acting. You chose this profession on your own, how can you say you were cheated? This is hilarious, who do you think you are? Why would the gaming company cheat you? Were you looking for your sense of existence everywhere?”

“I would not have chosen Esper if the Black Phantom did not lie to me!”

“Oh, it wasn’t my fault; it’s the world’s fault. Nobody pointed a gun at you, forcing you to choose your class, did they? Are you that dumb to push the blame to an NPC? If you regret it, open a new account, and stop posting everywhere, you brat!”

“Son of a b*tch…” Luzman was seething.

At this moment, an official message appeared on Luzman’s screen.

_____________________

It was detected that you frequently used insulting terms, hence your forum account will be banned for three days.

_____________________

Luzman was stunned. What the hell!

He was unable to reply. Naturally, the players on the forum soon discovered this and gloated at him.

“Haha, banned for cursing, aren’t you?”

“This is great.”

“Let’s go, he is clearly a troll.”

Luzman could only read and not reply. He was indignant and sullen, itching to smash something.

…

“That’s interesting.”

Han Xiao finished reading the forum’s comments, and his fingers were itching to reply, but sadly, he could not. Thinking back when he was on the forum, he loved to watch people getting into a catfight; that was a great pastime.

However, there were some people who got really angry because of the catfight; these were the people who were too innocent. If you are unable to win an argument, just treat it as something to do for fun. Everything on the Internet is pointless; it is all virtual and will not affect you in real life.

Han Xiao had also once been a despised power-leveler. He had been bashed by other players. When there was nothing to do, he could get into a catfight and treat it as something to lighten up his day.

Looking at the lively players on the forum while he himself could only be a spectator, Han Xiao felt very lonely. He missed the days when he was involved in a fiery verbal sparring… even though he had always felt that the term ‘verbal sparring’ was filthy.

Looking at the time, it was nearing dusk, and the battlefield had been cleaned up.

Han Xiao heard an engine from afar; he raised his eyes and gazed into the distance. There were a few off-road vehicles speeding across the muddy road. Green Valley Ville opened its gates, and Balsas was standing beside the gate to welcome these few vehicles with respect.

A thought flashed through Han Xiao’s mind. The vehicle has an Alumera crest.

…

When the off-road vehicle drove into the town, armed guards got off the bus and guarded a man who was dressed exquisitely.

Xiao Jin, the second leader of Alumera, had sent the emissary Xiao Rui to South Continent to find the Germinal Bounty, Zero. More than half a year ago, the Alumera family had realized that the appearance of this Zero was exactly the same as the missing Han Xiao, so Xiao Jin sent people to look for him. However, they had ended up empty-handed for a long time. Xiao Rui was the leader of the search team.

Balsas was extremely deferential toward Xiao Rui. He led everyone into the main house. The table was set with drinks and piping hot, fragrant barbequed meat. There was a cross-sectional cut on it, and the texture of the skin looked like a wave of an ocean. There was a hint of pink in the middle of the reddish-brown flesh. It was clear that the meat was tender even without biting into it. It was Gray Devil Wolf’s meat that had been collected two hours ago, and it was extremely fresh. Other dishes included some vegetables and mashed potato-like crop.

In this rogue town, the expenses of the dishes were considerable, and Xiao Rui was very satisfied with Balsas’ hospitality.

The group sat down around the food, and Xiao Rui, who was covered in dust, scoffed down the food. He ate three pieces of barbecue meat in one go and only slowed down after he swallowed them. He wiped his mouth and said calmly to Balsas, who waiting at one side, “I will rest for a few days in your territory and continue to find that damn bastard.”

“I’ll get someone to prepare the rooms,” Balsas replied. “Let me know again of any requests.”

Xiao Rui’s status in the family was higher than his, hence Balsas’ posture was awfully low.

“Okay.” Xiao Rui was pleased with Balsas’ attitude. He decided to stay for a few days more in Green Valley Ville. He had spent this last half a year searching for news of Zero in the South Continent, and he had enough of this aimless searching; it was a form of torture.

Ever since Han Xiao’s disappearance, the family thought that he was dead and did not take it to heart. However, after finding out that he had become Zero, everyone was shocked. Alumera did not wish to provoke Germinal. Thus, to find out what exactly happened, Xiao Jin assigned him to bring Han Xiao back to the family for questioning, yet the target had not been found after six months.

Xiao Rui was filled with resentment toward Han Xiao. It was all because of this ‘regenerated’ guy that he could not enjoy his life in comfort at his family’s headquarters.

He had met Han Xiao a few times before; he was weak and hopeless. If not for him being Xiao Jin’s biological son, he would have been sent to clean the toilets. Xiao Rui was an orphan adopted from a war, and there were many orphans like him under Xiao Jin. All of them grew up competing with one another, and each racked their brains scheming to improve their status. Hence, he was extremely envious of Han Xiao as he did not have to struggle as much.

Initially, when he heard that Han Xiao had died, he was secretly very happy during his funeral. He knew that his adopted brothers felt the same way even though they were grieving on the outside.

The first impression Xiao Rui had of Han Xiao made it difficult for him to link Han Xiao and the Zero that was talked about on the Dark Net.

Why didn’t you just die and leave me alone? Why must you give me so much trouble?Xiao Rui had grumbled on more than one occasion. He looked at Balsas and chatted for a while before asking casually, “Is there anything going on recently in this town?”

“Yes, those refugees outside…” Balsas told him about his findings.

Xiao Rui was surprised. “There’s actually such a weird crowd? You have to report your findings to the family.”

“I know… There’s something else. Black Phantom is also resting in this town. His reason is unknown; he claims that it was on the way.”

Xiao Rui’s heart skipped a beat. “Black Phantom is here, too?”

Recently, the Dark Net’s killer list had been updated. Black Phantom’s rank had risen to seventh, and he was very active. To know that this legendary killer was nearby, Xiao Rui was somewhat uneasy.

“We’d better not provoke him,” Balsas replied.

Xiao Rui was undecided as he knitted his brows together in a deep frown. He turned and saw Liu Cheng, his expressionless personal bodyguard who was right behind him. This eased his nervous mood.

Liu Cheng sensed Xiao Rui’s gaze and reassured him indifferently. “Don’t worry. Even if we face Black Phantom, I can still protect your life. He can’t do anything to me.”

…

The sun was setting.

Ever since the off-road vehicles entered the town, Han Xiao had felt a change in Green Valley Ville. The town’s look-out had kept a close watch on him, as if they were worried about his activities. From this small detail, Han Xiao was fairly confident that the person on the vehicle that had entered the town was an important character.

“I don’t have a deep impression of Alumera’s family. It seems like they were not a special group in the original quest… Oh, I’ve recalled. I think in the secondary quest of ‘The Power Struggle of Vagrant Warlords’, this family was the one of the strongest powers. Yes, this secondary quest and Bennett’s refugee quest had a partial conflict. The vagrants and I did not have a lot of interactions, don’t think it will affect this quest.”

Han Xiao had been eyeing Bennett’s quest for a long time. He did not know when it started, but with his good relationship with Bennett, coupled with the positive notes from the Dark Net Organization, as well as his Universal Reputation, there was a high chance that he would be invited by Bennett to participate in the refugee plan, and that would be Aquamarine’s second main quest.

As a participant in the main quest mission, the mission Han Xiao would receive should be quite different from the other players’, and he was very excited.

Alumera seemed like an indirect enemy. Han Xiao rubbed his chin and muttered to himself, “We’ll see when the time comes. There isn’t any cause for concern now. This is just a small territory.”

The interface showed that he had accumulated more than one million Experience. Aquamarine had nineteen novice villages. Excluding the six on Andrea Mainland and not counting Big Horn Village and Green Valley Ville, this meant that Han Xiao still had eleven chances of earning from teaching mechanic skills to those who switched to the mechanics class. This was more than enough for him to rise till LV 60, after which he could then go to some dangerous places, collecting rare abilities, skills, and machinery. Hence, it was rumored that ‘max level is the beginning’. Although he did not have a rank limit imposed by the version, the quality-price ratio to continuously increase his rank was not the highest.

Since Han Xiao possessed a huge channel of Experience, he used it extravagantly to improve his skills.

Talent points could not be used carelessly, but Experience did not really matter.

He straight away upgraded three skills to the highest level; [Flaming Will], [Overload], and [Moving Snipe]. These three combat skills were all important, and the explosive power was upgraded once again. If [Flaming Will] and [Overload] were to start at the same time, it was even possible for the Ghost sniper rifle to take over two thousand HP. The three skills were fully upgraded, and they brought along three talent points. His accumulated talent points were 24 now, and he saved them so as to not use them unnecessarily.

With the remaining Experience, Han Xiao fused his knowledge together and randomly obtained new blueprints. Fortunately, the fusion this time around was quite good.

[Sunworm Portable Flamethrower], the flame had continuous damage. The important point was that it had a small volume but a large range of impact. It could be carried with you or loaded as a small component on a vehicle or robot.

A player who took the role of patrolling in the town suddenly dashed over and shouted in fear, “I found an army. They are approaching, and they have triggered a mission!”

The players of Green Town Ville became restless and all went to check out their interface.

Han Xiao’s brow jumped momentarily. He actually received a mission too!

_____________________

You have triggered a random mission, [Invasion of Green Valley Ville].

Mission summary: Green Valley Ville, which is controlled by the Alumera family, is very close to the inhabited land, Black Pine, Lu Cheng’s territory. There has been continuous friction between them. Now, Lu Cheng’s troops are once again invading Green Valley Ville. You can choose to help the Alumera family protect Green Valley Ville or help Lu Cheng attack. Please choose your position.

Mission requirements: Tip off Balsas and protect Green Valley Ville. Otherwise, you can choose to join Lu Cheng’s troops and attack Green Valley Ville.

Note: Once you have picked a side, you are not allowed to switch.

Mission rewards:

1. By protecting Green Valley Ville, you will receive 12,000 Experience and 3,000 Aquamarine Dollars.

2. By helping Lu Cheng compete the attack, you will receive 10,000 Experience.

_____________________

I actually received the novice mission as well?

Han Xiao broke into laughter. He did not care about this small reward, but Lu Cheng, who was mentioned in the mission, caught his attention. If he remembered correctly, Lu Cheng was Old Man Lu’s son, a South Continent vagrant who was a big warlord.

Old Man Lu’s four blueprints could only be obtained from Lu Cheng. An idea came to Han Xiao’s head, and he immediately made a decision. As long as he got to interact with Lu Cheng, he would then be able to know when the secret quest would begin.

As for those four uncommon blueprints, he had been eyeing them for a long time.

I will observe for a while, see if the leader is Lu Cheng himself or his subordinate.Han Xiao took out his sniper rifle and oiled it. He idled around and appeared as a sharp contrast to the busy players around him.

This urgent mission resulted in the players taking action, some of them immediately chose to protect Green Valley Ville, which offered a higher reward, and went to tip off the guard. There were still some players surveying the situation first.

Balsas received the information and jumped out of his lover’s bed in shock. He hurriedly threw on his clothes and arrived at the town’s lookout tower with quick steps. The observatory was built with stones and bricks, and the top was spread with weeds as a ceiling.

“Damn it, the bastard of Black Pine came again!” Balsas cursed with a pair of gloomy triangular eyes.

Green Valley Ville was just one part of Alumera, and Lu Cheng was actually a local vagrant warlord from the South Continent. His power was even more tremendous. Lu Cheng’s headquarters were in Black Pine, and Green Valley Ville was located just dozens of miles away. Lu Cheng had eyed this strategic location for a long time and tried to invade several times. No one had expected him to launch an attack today.

Xiao Rui arrived beside Balsas and pointed at the dense mess of surrounding players and assured him, “Don’t worry, don’t we have cannon fodder?”

Balsas’ eyes lit up. With this bunch of unbeatable eccentric refugees, they were able to counteract Lu Cheng’s military advantage!

Balsas called the assistant and ordered, “Go tell that bunch of refugees outside that I need them to ward off Lu Cheng’s army. As long as they completed my mission, everyone will receive money.”

“Don’t give too much,” Xiao Rui added on. “Their lives are worthless.”

“I understand.” This bunch of refuges were the best cannon fodder; they were the trump card to defeating Lu Cheng. Balsas let out a sinister smile.

Luck is on our side!

…

Lu Cheng sat in the middle of a war chariot and looked serious. This unit had more than sixty off-road armored vehicles equipped with machine guns and rockets, followed by hundreds of fully-equipped elite soldiers. They were all trained and qualified soldiers; one soldier could fight at least three enemies, and the soldiers knew how to work together in different formations. They were not a common vagrant of the mob.

Lu Cheng had been coveting Green Valley Ville for a long time. There was a strategic mountain pass between this town and his land, Black Pine. Once he seized the town, there would be no worries in the future.

“We must capture Green Valley Ville this time round.”

The troops were getting closer to Green Valley Ville. Lu Cheng soon noticed the crowd surrounding the town; they wore ragged garments, like a group of refugees, guarding the town.

Lu Cheng’s face immediately darkened, and there was a trace of anger in his eyes. “What a despicable bastard to use refugees as cannon fodder!”

He ordered the military fleet to park a distance away from the town, just outside of the firing range of the machine guns. The smoke and dust quickly dissipated. The ruts left on the muddy road exuded a burning smell, and the heat from the friction somewhat contorted the air.

The players who chose to protect the town all held onto their weapons tightly and waited on high alert. The cold armored vehicles and the compressed gun barrels made many people nervous. They swallowed their saliva with unease. Beads of sweat on their foreheads were reflecting light under the sun.

Many observing players had some doubts. Were they not allowed to choose their camp? It seemed like that they would begin fighting any minute now, and they might have no time to choose a side.

“Balsas, are you thinking of blocking my gunfire with these pathetic fellows?” Lu Cheng took out a megaphone, and his voice travelled out. Everyone in the town could hear his voice clearly. “My men are able to tear them to shreds easily, do you want me to paint your territory with fresh blood?”

Balsas emerged above the wall and smiled coldly.

Lu Cheng frowned and looked at the group of shabbily dressed refugees. He calmly offered, “I’ll give you the opportunity to leave now. There is no need to die here.”

The refugees were restless for a while, but he realized that they did not waver despite that.

“Are these people unafraid of death?”

Lu Cheng was astonished. He realized that there was not the slightest bit of fear on this bunch of refugees’ faces. He hesitated to give the command of attack.

Balsas faintly guessed the values of this group of refugees; what they cared about the most was profit instead of their lives. Seeing Lu Cheng hesitation, Balsas was very proud of himself and was rather scornful of Lu Cheng’s indecisiveness. He ridiculed lowly, “What an excessive tendency to clemency.”

To be apprehensive toward endangering the refugees’ lives would only hinder his battle; Lu Cheng’s choice appeared awfully stupid in Balsas’ eyes.

Balsas grinned evilly and was about to order the refugees to counterattack when he suddenly realized that there was movement from the side-lines.

Black Phantom!

Han Xiao stretched his back and strode unhurriedly to the center of the confrontation. He instantly caught the attention of both sides and the players. He crossed his arms and called loudly, “Give me some face. If you all want to go to war, do it tomorrow!”

His voice was as good as a loudspeaker. Everyone was taken aback.

“Why is he intervening‽” Balsas immediately swallowed back his almost released order.

Lu Cheng froze, sizing Han Xiao up, before exclaiming hoarsely, “Black Phantom‽ Why is this fellow here?”

The commanders of both sides were afraid of the consequences, so they ordered the troops to lay down their weapons. The tense atmosphere of confrontation dissipated immediately.

The players were bewildered. They were not very familiar with Aquamarine’s background. From the mission brief, it was known that Balsas and Lu Cheng were warlords of influence. Black Phantom gave out an order on his own, and the two warlords with armed forces immediately feared the consequences. This roused the players’ curiosity.

With one sentence from Black Phantom, he was able to halt the war. He was able to make the two warlords overlook their feud, who exactly was he?

Just how high was his status to dare say the phrase ‘give me some face’? The most terrifying thing was that the two warlords halted immediately; how much weight does he carry‽

Then the players noticed something else. These NPCs all recognized Black Phantom. Exactly how big was his reputation on the planet? Could it already be to the point where he was able to cut in anywhere he went‽

Is this Red-Hair Shanks’ legendary ability, Fruit of Face ¹ ?

Bun-hit-dog, who was secretly videoing the scene, was thrilled. This kind of news material was exactly what he wanted.

“Retreat, set up the camp!” Lu Cheng took a deep look at Han Xiao and swept his eyes across the refugees. He let his troops pitch a camp in the distance and eyed covetously.

The players became restless. Some players who had yet to choose their side were surveying the situation. It seemed like the Green Valley Ville’s side had a higher possibility of winning.

The sky became dark.

Han Xiao walked over to Lu Cheng’s camp, and the guards hastily raised their guns when they saw him approaching.

“Relax, I just want to have a short discussion with your leader,” Han Xiao assured them.

The guards continued to hold on to their guns and did not allow Han Xiao to enter the camp.

At this moment, Lu Cheng heard the commotion and walked over. “Let him in.”

If Black Phantom wanted to kill him, there was no need to inform him. It seemed like he had other intentions. He permitted the guards to make way and lead Han Xiao into the newly built tent. Frenzied Sword followed after Han Xiao.

Lu Cheng sat down casually, not worried that Han Xiao might threaten his life. With his hands clasped under his chin, he remarked, “The famous Black Phantom actually appeared in this small place. I don’t know the reason of your intervention—I don’t think Balsas is qualified to hire a killer of your status—so what is you purpose of visiting me?”

Han Xiao got straight to the point. “I’m here to help you.”

“Help me?” Lu Cheng became suspicious. “We have not met before.”

Han Xiao casually made up a reason. “You are more likeable than Balsas.”

Lu Cheng felt strange and paused before commenting, “Balsas … He’s a despicable fellow. He actually let the refugees act as cannon fodder. I really don’t understand, why did this bunch of refugees disregard their lives? What benefits did Balsas give them exactly? Could it be that he detained their family to threaten them? I gave them an opportunity to live, yet they don’t want to leave.”

“They don’t have much combat strength, why don’t you just crush them? With your armed forces’ strength, it would be a completely one-sided massacre.” Han Xiao half-smiled.

Lu Cheng’s face was blank. He declined to comment and changed the topic. “Black Phantom, I don’t know you, and I don’t know why you want to help me. What do you plan to do, kill Balsas? I believe this is an easy task for you.”

“No, I don’t want to kill people,” Han Xiao said perfunctory.

Lu Cheng’s lips twisted. A killer said he did not wish to kill people? This is more ridiculous than saying a navy can’t swim!

“Then how do you plan to help me?”

“You are concerned about the refugees. I can help you resolve that.”

Lu Cheng raised his eyebrows. “You can convince them?”

“Perhaps.”

“… Then what do you want from me?”

Lu Cheng did not believe that a legendary killer, who was a stranger, would help for free. He was certain that the Black Phantom had a motive, but he did not understand what the Black Phantom fancied from him.

“I don’t need a reward.”

Lu Cheng’s eyes darkened, and he stared at Han Xiao’s eyes. What he saw was a dense fog, and he was unable to penetrate Han Xiao’s thoughts. Generally speaking, if one did not want a reward, it meant that the person harbored other intentions and bigger ambitions.

Silence.

Frenzied Sword felt lost as he was listening to their conversation, but that did not hinder him from sensing that the atmosphere had become rigid, and his nape somewhat tightened.

After two minutes of deadlock, Lu Cheng did not say anything at the end. He nodded and said slowly, “Then I’ll count on you.”

…

Han Xiao petted Frenzied Sword’s shoulder while walking out of Lu Cheng’s camp, saying, “I’ve things for you to do.”

_____________________

You triggered the mission [Disseminating of Information].

_____________________

The mission was to disseminate the information of Black Phantom joining Lu Cheng’s camp, using reputation as a form of reward. The greater the number of people who came to know this information, the higher the reward would be, and players were surprisingly counted in as the head count. Frenzied Sword did not doubt him and diligently went to disseminate this piece of information in Green Valley Ville.

Perhaps the ordinary players would be amazed to encounter this type of real-life interaction mission, but Frenzied Sword had gone through Han Xiao’s baptism of love, and hence was not shocked at any kind of mission anymore.

“Next up will be to see how much influence I have,” Han Xiao said.

Frenzied Sword was really efficient, and perhaps because he had a bit of a fame now, the news spread through words of mouth quickly. Very soon, it had spread throughout Green Valley Ville. Then there was a huge commotion among the community of players.

“If we choose Green Valley Ville, does it mean we’ll become enemies with Black Phantom?”

“How is it possible to beat him!”

“Is this a mission guide?”

The players were panicking. The image of Han Xiao ferociously killing the beasts was still deeply etched in their minds. Becoming enemies with Black Phantom would be equivalent to courting death. The situation of the mission was immediately turned upside down. The chances of Green Valley Ville winning had become an all-time low.

Also, choosing to protect Green Valley Ville meant that the players had to attack Black Phantom. That would result in a decline in their likeability with Black Phantom. That was too big a sacrifice for such a small mission. If they were to fight for real, should they attack him or not? If they did not attack him, how could they protect Green Town Ville? This was a thorny problem.

The players who had chosen Green Valley Ville were gloomy. They felt they had no chance of winning. If they want to complete the mission, they could only join Lu Cheng’s camp, but they were unable to re-elect their camp.

Bun-hit-dog was very decisive; he was the first to advance to Lu Cheng’s camp. The mission was second; his main objective was to capture more of Han Xiao’s acts.

The guards had received Lu Cheng’s orders and allowed the refugees to pass. Bun-hit-dog successfully joined Lu Cheng’s camp, and Han Xiao, who was observing at one side, narrowed his eyes as he noticed Bun-hit-dog .

This ID seems familiar… Isn’t he a video master? Han Xiao remembered Bun-hit-dog’s ID; he was a rather famous video master uploader. He had done many seasons of the Galaxy series and was very well-received.

At this moment, Han Xiao had another idea…

Han Xiao strode out and stopped in front of Bun-hit-dog.

“You made a wise choice; I feel that you have potential. Do you want to become my temporary assistant?” Han Xiao asked.

Bun-hit-dog’s eyes became as big as saucers. He was stupefied. Did he just trigger the secret quest?

He never had any extravagant expectations, but he did not expect himself to come upon it!

This is life; you might not get what you want, yet what you don’t want could be gifted to you. This is too unexpected. Bun-hit-dog was suddenly frozen on the spot.

There was an uproar among the observing players.

“He had triggered Black Phantom’s secret quest!”

“How did he do it‽”

“Was joining Black Phantom all it takes?”

“This mission was actually a chance to trigger a secret quest?”

Realizing this, the players who were still observing wasted no time in joining Lu Cheng’s camp. They were enthusiastic, joining the camp like a refugee tide. The camp was filled with players in an instant. It was overcrowded and jam-packed. The guards were stunned; they were unsure whether to chase people away or not.

The players who were done choosing their camps impatiently went to find Han Xiao, wanting to trigger the quest. However, they were faced with rejection.

“Why can’t we?”

“Is it only restricted to the first person who joined the camp‽”

That was the most possible guess; the players who were a step slower wanted to bang their heads on the ground. The pain they felt was as if they were notified of striking a lottery to only be told it was an error.

They had the chance of being the first, but this chance was snatched by Bun-hit-dog, just like that.

A step slower, a golden opportunity missed!

The players were full of regret.

Han Xiao brought the overly-excited Bun-hit-dog to one side and casually issued five reputation points. He secretly planned on how to make full use of Bun-hit-dog.

Bringing along a player who was a game video maker also meant that he was bringing a reporter along. He could then have a channel to disseminate news to players freely. He could choose to give players some news selectively based on what information he wanted the players to know.

After experiencing the baptism of information explosion, controlling the public’s opinion was equivalent to holding a weapon. He was able to defame the opponent, guide the public’s opinion, and shape his image to his benefit.

Looks like my manipulation is getting more and more high-end. Han Xiao was elated. He compiled an accompanying mission that was generous in rewards and gave it to Bun-hit-dog. Next, he took out a mobile that could be used to contact him and handed it to Bun-hit-dog as well. He urged Bun-hit-dog a million times not to lose it, so Bun-hit-dog nodded repeatedly and gripped the mobile seriously.

He had two accompanying players, Bun-hit-dog and Frenzied Sword. The limit of Han Xiao’s mission was adequate.

After advancing the second time, the limit to what he could reward players increased from three hundred to five hundred per level. This also meant that at LV 40, the increment was at around twelve thousand, but after the advancement, it had doubled to twenty-five thousand. Now, the total value had reached up to fifty thousand.

Han Xiao did not think of any news to disseminate, so he first gave Bun-hit-dog his contact as it would inevitably be of use in the future.

Now I have three players that I fancy: Frenzied Sword, Maple Moon, and Bun-hit-dog. The strength is slightly low, I’d need to expand my support team. Han Xiao was thinking ahead. He would rather focus on quality than quantity; he was destined to walk the elite route. If he was able to take in China’s past experts then he would have profited. However, he felt that this possibility was rather uncertain as those ultra-good players all had some strange personalities.

Having only gone to two novice villages so far, he still had ten more waiting for him. Thus, Han Xiao had tons of opportunities left to choose his men.

Balsas arrived hastily at the lookout tower and saw a large number of refugees flooding into Lu Cheng’s camp. He was flustered.

This bunch of refugees are abandoning my town? How did Lu Cheng subdue them‽

It was at this moment Balsas realized that this special bunch of refugees valued profit over anything. The only reason they were easily manipulated by those small profits was because they had not yet been offered bigger benefits. Balsas thought that he was in control of the refugees, but that was just wishful thinking!

I’m doomed… Balsas was frantically running around in circles. These refugees were his trump card against Lu Cheng, and now that Lu Cheng had them, his advantage no longer existed.

Suddenly, he felt something was amiss. Lu Cheng should not have known any special aspects of the refugees!

At this moment, his assistant ran over panicky and reported the news of Black Phantom helping Lu Cheng.

This news was like a thunderbolt hitting him; Balsas was stood motionless in shock. He could not imagine being enemies with Black Phantom as he knew he would die miserably. Every superhuman that died under Black Phantom’s gun was a reflection of his own end.

Black Phantom was of a legendary rank; why would he help Lu Cheng suddenly?

It must be because of Black Phantom that Lu Cheng was able to subdue the refugees. Why does he have so much influence on the refugees? Balsas then recalled that Black Phantom had mentioned he was only passing by.

Liar!

Balsas had the idea of retreating. If Balsas retreated along with the armed forces, there was a high possibility that Lu Cheng would not pursue and attack.

“The battle hasn’t begun, and you’re already thinking of running away. Have you forgotten the Alumera family’s rules?” Xiao Rui arrived at the lookout tower, stood beside Balsas, and frowned.

“But that’s the Black Phantom! Also, half of the refugees have betrayed us…”

“Alumera would never withdraw from a war. Get your men ready for battle.” Xiao Rui’s voice was firm and full of righteousness.

“There’s the Black Phantom though…”

“My bodyguard, Liu Cheng, will prevent him from participating in the battle.”

Liu Cheng, who was standing behind Xiao Rui, stepped out blankly. His calm, confident manner soothed Balsas’ nerves.

Balsas clenched his teeth and hesitated for a while before making a firm decision and calling his assistant. “Mobilize everyone and kick that Black Pine bastard all the way back to his home! We have some of the refugees with us at least; we still have a chance at this battle.”

“Yes sir!” The assistant hurried went to convey the order.

There were only three people left on the lookout tower. Xia Rui turned his head and said lowly, “Prepare the vehicle in case the guards fail. We must ensure that we are able to retreat. Don’t worry, we are on the same side, the family’s side. I’ll vouch for you that we had went all out for this arduous battle.”

Balsas heaved a sigh of relief; having some support steadied his heart. He was afraid Xiao Rui would let this news get to him, but it seemed like he was still rational. Leaving the soldiers of Green Valley Ville behind to resist, this would delay Lu Cheng’s troops and aid them in escaping, and it would also be easier to account to the Alumera Family.

…

In the early hours, the sky was dark, and a thick fog had seeped in.

Green Valley Ville’s guards were waiting atop the wall behind their machine guns in their bunkers. Through the wall fencing, they saw piles of sandbags in position and supporting machine guns. If they broke through the city gates, the battle would begin.

“They have decided to defend till their death, so a fierce battle is unavoidable. Fortunately, the number of stubborn refugees has decreased greatly.”

Lu Cheng put his binoculars down and let out a sigh.

He did not want to massacre the refugees, and Han Xiao had done him a huge favor. Lu Cheng was flabbergasted at the fact that Han Xiao seemed to have such influence on the refugees. It only took him half a night to solve this difficult problem.

As for the refugees who remained in Green Valley Ville, Lu Cheng had given them a chance, and there was also a limit to being benevolent.

“Attack in twenty minutes.”

Lu Cheng gave out a command and took advantage of the time that the troops needed to prepare to find Han Xiao to express his gratitude.

“It was all thanks to you that we managed to solve the issue of the refugees.”

Han Xiao smiled in response.

There was no free lunch in the world, and the more Han Xiao did not mention a reward, the more Lu Cheng felt uneasy. He paused before saying in exasperation, “I really feel that there’s nothing on me that such a character like you would be interested in.”

This sentence was caught by Bun-hit-dog, who was standing at the side. He sensed the hidden meaning.

This kind of character? Another clue relating to Black Phantom’s identity.

Bun-hit-dog thought of a vague outline for the first episode.

“We’ll discuss again after the war ended. These refugees will fight for you,” Han Xiao replied.

“The refugees are not soldiers, and I’m not Balsas; I’ll not let them throw their lives away.” Lu Cheng shook his head.

“Even without your command, they’ll still participate in this battle.” Han Xiao lowered his voice.

Are these people lunatics? Do they not fear death? Lu Cheng expressed his suspicions. However, the time for battle was approaching. He had no time to inquire more. He hurriedly went to command his troop.

Following the fleet of vehicles, a fierce battle began. Gunfire tore the darkness apart; Lu Cheng’s troops launched an intense attack on Green Valley Ville. The soldiers based on the wall and the vehicle carrying machine guns and howitzers were shooting across each other, and the battlefield was flooded with the sound of engines, machine guns, and screams of agony. The night sky was illuminated with the blaze of every exploded grenade and pervaded with the smoke from the guns.

The players also began their fighting at close quarters, Green Valley Ville’s players had clear commands from several small guilds’ leaders. While the players on Lu Cheng’s side lacked cohesion, they had a large number of players.

Han Xiao observed at one side as the situation did not require him to intervene yet. Lu Cheng had a high chance of winning.

Suddenly, a shadow traversed across the battlefield and made a beeline toward Han Xiao along the battlefield’s edge; an artillery shell’s flame and bullets landed on Han Xiao’s body, yet he was not at all injured.

“Black Phantom, I’ll be your opponent!”

Liu Cheng rushed over with giant strides.

“I can’t even mind my own business now?” Han Xiao grudgingly took out and fired a machine gun. Three bullets hit the space between Liu Cheng’s eyebrows, heart, and lower region of his body, but there was no expected blood splattered.

The moment when the three steel bullets hit Liu Cheng, it seemed that the kinetic energy suddenly disappeared. The bullets bounced off Liu Cheng’s skin, and the might was not even as good as a slingshot. Light blue smoke showing the damage dealt could be seen floating above his head.

-0!

-0!

Han Xiao clearly saw the moment when the warhead hit, and the target’s skin rippled with fine corrugation. After which, the bullet lost its kinetic energy.

His eyes darkened.

Kinetic energy absorption?

The interface showed Liu Cheng had reached LV 44. The level was not as high as Han Xiao’s, but Liu Cheng’s ability was very tricky. It was the natural defense against a kinetic energy weapon, and this happened to restrain his machinery.

Han Xiao was unlucky. He just had to meet an enemy who was able to restrain him.

With kinetic energy absorption, one could dissolve the various power exerted on the body. If the power could not breakthrough the ability’s support limit, the power would then be absorbed and transformed into the opponent’s power. Using physical property to attack was ineffective toward this kind of ability. To deal with Kinetic Energy Absorption, using either quantity or mental form to attack was the best choice. The support limit of this type of ability naturally depended on the level and strength. Unfortunately, in general, the support limit would always exceed the combat capability of the same level.

Liu Cheng stopped a few meters away from Han Xiao and said coldly, “Black Phantom, this battle is unrelated to you. Mind your own business.”

A legendary killer was eyeing covetously at edge of the battlefield, so Liu Cheng took the lead to prevent the Black Phantom from participating in the battle.

Han Xiao’s response was simply two bullets going for Liu Cheng’s eyes, and they had resulted in zero damage still. The warhead fell to the ground disappointedly, Liu Cheng’s eyes did not even blink. He was not harmed at all and said indifferently, “You’re Dark Net’s top killer and the Blood Pact Society’s trump card. Others may fear you, but not me. I’ll give you a word of advice, stay away from this battlefield.”

“The Dark Net? Blood Pact Society? What power is that?” The observing Bun-hit-dog had an idea and hastily stored these two important keywords in his heart. He was finally seeing the tip of the iceberg of Black Phantom’s mysterious origin!

Han Xiao’s mind quickly filtered through his equipment at hand. Coming up with a preliminary plan, his feet slammed onto the ground and the Electromagnetic Hover-boots lit up. The exerted power made him recoil rapidly. He touched his waist swiftly and pulled out two Berserk Eagles. In a quick move, he changed to a Hayme bullet and opened fire. The bullets hit the side of Liu Cheng’s feet, and poisonous gas began to rise and pervaded the air.

Liu Cheng detected the poisonous gas and frowned. He held his breath and charged in large strides. While he was traversing through the battlefield earlier on, he had absorbed a large amount of kinetic energy from the crossfire. The kinetic energy shot out from the bottom of his feet as he dashed toward Han Xiao. With every step he took, his footprints formed big pits. He was like an unstoppable tank as he caught up with Han Xiao. He gathered an enormous amount of kinetic energy and directed it at Han Xiao’s chest.

Bang!

As if having a head-on collision with a mad rhinoceros, his body flew out uncontrollably. The remaining power was unstoppable, and he even knocked down and killed several players who were so unfortunate to be in his way.

This blow made Han Xiao seemed pathetic. However, his Magnetically controlled retractable armor managed to reduce the impact. Hence, it only took 50 HP. He had close to three thousand HP, which was quite good among the other mechanics of the same rank. The power of Liu Cheng’s released kinetic energy was not very strong, but it could easily cause repelling and flying effects, and that was the annoying part.

The interface displayed the insidious effect of the poisonous gas. The Hayme bullets were effective, but Liu Cheng’s HP and resistance were not low too. He could still explode kinetic energy and rapidly get out of the poisonous gas cloud. It was unrealistic to use poisonous gas to deal with Liu Cheng. The effect of using high-explosive bullets was slightly better, but they were the same as the Hayme bullets, unable to win by just using them. Han Xiao did not give chase as the ammunition he had was limited, and there were only three magazines with high-explosive bullets left.

He took a deep breath to increase his blood oxygen content. He stomped his feet and stopped recoiling from the impact. A deep trail could be seen on the ground. He put both his guns away and put his hands in a stance to ward off the charging Liu Cheng with his iron fists. The kinetic energy of Liu Cheng’s iron fists almost smashed open Han Xiao’s stance.

Liu Cheng’s kinetic energy was able to amplify power, and Han Xiao was vulnerable in terms of power.

An artillery shell exploded nearby; there was a glare, and both men were intertwined in a fight, one attacking and one guarding. This posture resembled a paper-cut silhouette drawing, disappearing in a flash.

Liu Cheng roared and slammed his fists onto Han Xiao’s head. The kinetic energy of that action caused a tremor in the air. Han Xiao was beaten to the extent that his head became crooked and his cervical vertebrae cracked bone by bone. He grabbed Liu Cheng’s shoulder and refused to let himself fly out because of the impact of that hit. His other hand started the thermo-electrical incisor gloves and aimed it toward Liu Cheng’s eyes.

“High temperature‽” Liu Ching quickly raised his head in alert. The glove glided across his cheek and left a burn, exposing his flesh. The burn stung his nerves, and in that moment, Lu Cheng exploded the kinetic energy within his body, causing a tremendous force to push Han Xiao out.

Han Xiao panted and removed the mud that was sputtered all over his face. Firearms were useless, and this cost him a chance of surprise kill. In addition, it would only enable the opponent to absorb more kinetic energy. However, he still had other types of weapons such as flames and poisonous gas that both could kill and injure.

Fortunately, he is unable to absorb such energy. Otherwise, I really would not know how to subdue him.

Liu Cheng covered the burn on his face, glanced fearfully at Han Xiao’s gloves, and immediately turned around to run off in another direction.

Han Xiao froze, and his expression changed suddenly. He hurriedly gave chase.

On a war vehicle, a soldier who was controlling machine guns saw a figure rapidly approaching. He instinctively turned the muzzle around to aim at the figure, and the compressed bullets were hitting the target. However, he was stupefied at the discovery that the target, who should have been shot into a sieve, was unscathed. The warheads dropped onto the ground one by one!

“Don’t hit him!” Han Xiao yelled.

It was a pity that the reminder came too late; the surrounding war vehicles fired at Liu Cheng, who absorbed all the kinetic energy. Both of Liu Cheng’s eyes were bloodshot, and the amount of kinetic energy was almost overflowing. Liu Cheng’s muscles were twitching like those of an agitated mouse. He turned around, and the ground that he had stepped on exploded into a big hole. His whole body flew as if it was an exploded artillery shell.

This was the combined kinetic energy of a thousand bullets!

This speed is too fast for me! Han Xiao’s eyes blurred, and he could not avoid it in time. The impact was like hitting a moving train. The scenery in his line of sight fell back quickly, and he resembled a baseball that had been hit for a home run, flying tens of meters. He landed and bounced countless times before falling into a ditch along the sides of the road. His body was covered with mud, and finally, he crashed into a war vehicle, overturning it, before stopping.

He felt really dizzy, and his whole body ached.

_____________________

Magnetically Controlled Retractable Armor’s durability dropped by 132 points!

You received 241 points of damage!

_____________________

The enemy knew how to bring out the advantage of his ability, which in turn made Han Xiao suffer a small loss.

Liu Cheng… I did not hear of his name in my previous life. To think he would be so troublesome to deal with. Ah, he is a Crouching Tiger, a Hidden Dragon; I mustn’t underestimate him… Han Xiao eyes turned cold as he entered into combat concentration mode, spat out a mouthful of blood, and leaped up once again to fight Liu Cheng.

Enveloped in the flames of war, the two fought fiercely on the battlefield. Bullets whistled passed the ears, and flames illuminated the horizon again and again. The area around the two became free of bullets. Soldiers dare not attack Liu Cheng again, but Liu Cheng could always knock himself against the gun muzzle.

This battle is greatly disadvantageous for me.

Han Xiao’s eyes flashed. He abandoned Liu Cheng and rushed toward Green Valley Ville. Just like a shadow, he disappeared in a flash. Avoiding the firing by Green Valley Ville’s guards, Han Xiao glided up the wall with a few steps, opened fire with both of his guns, and killed the guards wantonly.

Bullets penetrated each and every person, and blood was splattered everywhere.

Liu Cheng was alarmed and hastily pursued him.

Green Valley Ville was the fundamental point of conflict. Han Xiao had understood this point and immediately adopted the tactic of avoiding the enemy’s strength and attacking his weakness. Hence, he did not continue to fight Liu Cheng painstakingly. Unless Liu Cheng did not want this town, Han Xiao would only be led by his nose. In the moments between his fight with Liu Cheng, Han Xiao thought of a strategy!

After changing the magazine, he shot down a few more guards. There was suddenly a huge gust of wind behind him, and Han Xiao twisted his body to avoid it. Liu Cheng swept past a few inches away. Having missed the opportunity, he punched the wall and smashed a huge piece off it. Broken bricks and stones spilled over the ground.

Liu Cheng’s body became sluggish, as if he had fully exhausted his kinetic energy.

Here’s my chance! Both of Han Xiao’s hands aimed at Liu Cheng’s head, the high heat from the thermo-electrical incisor gloves warping the air.

Liu Cheng did not show any signs of being flustered. Instead, there was a glimpse of accomplishment.

“You got tricked!”

The strong kinetic energy was surging again, and there were no signs of exhaustion; that was just a feint. This was a long-awaited killing strike that contained eighty percent of his kinetic energy. He soared, and with amazing swiftness, he lifted his knee to knock onto Han Xiao’s chin. Once hit, the impact would smash half of Han Xiao’s face and fracture it.

Han Xiao flew off the wall with his head tilted up.

That didn’t feel right! Liu Cheng was shocked; his knees did not have the feeling of striking a concrete object.

Han Xiao had been vigilant. Just now, in the flash of light, he had used the Electromagnetic Hover-boots to retreat. He was only gently scratched by Liu Cheng’s knee, and he was hardly injured.

While he was in midair, he withdrew his Berserk Eagles, aimed at Liu Cheng’s eyes, and opened fire.

This attack was fruitless. Liu Cheng went stiff for a moment. He could not escape, yet his face did not change. He knew this bullet was ineffective against his ability.

Bang!

When the bullet was about to hit his eyes, the bullet lost its kinetic energy as usual. However, the warhead suddenly burst out a dazzling glare.

Liu Cheng covered his eyes and let out a blood-curdling scream. His vision was a vast expanse of whiteness. The stinging pain in his two eyes affected his brain’s sense of equilibrium.

Flash bullet!

Oh, the thought of it taking effect right on his eyes, what a sweet feeling!

Han Xiao had been mulling over this attack for a long time!

Han Xiao’s hand reached out, and with the help of the wall’s chink, he climbed up the wall once again. Taking advantage of Liu Cheng losing his vision, this was the best timing to launch [Overload] and [Flaming Will]. Han Xiao’s hands suddenly pressed on Liu Cheng’s face. This time around, the attack was definitely the best!

Even if [Flaming Will]’s face was as black as before, the damage later on would still be off the charts!

-423!

-423!

The damage might have seemed worse than the sniper rifle, but the Thermo-electrical Incisor Gloves relied mainly on continuous damages. It was already considered formidable for a sudden explosive force that was able to reach this level. Liu Cheng was not like Han Xiao; his HP was only around two thousand. It easily reduced to eighty percent in just a short while, and the damage was still flooding the interface!

The burning smell was pervasive. Liu Cheng yelled bitterly and got up. He hurriedly exploded his kinetic energy and pushed Han Xiao away. Liu Cheng’s face was severely burned and beyond recognition. His face was a mix of burnt flesh and red blood.

Liu Cheng’s eyesight was damaged, and the light and shadow in his vision was distorted. He could barely identify a direction as he fled, staggering, with his teeth tightly clenched.

Han Xiao promptly gave chase, and Liu Cheng’s heart sank. He was hoping that Black Phantom would attend to the battle and not chase after him. Fleeing was hopeless; he knew that he would not be able to escape death. He fulfilled his last duty as a bodyguard by holding up Han Xiao. If Liu Cheng died, the Alumera family would surely take good care of his family.

The two of them were soon a distance away from the battlefield, and they pursued each other into the woods.

About ten minutes later, Liu Cheng slowed down and fell to the ground. He had depleted his accumulated kinetic energy. He turned and realized that Han Xiao was following behind like a demon.

“Kill me.”

The burn on Liu Cheng’s face was a tragic sight as he gave a pained smile.

“I don’t need you to tell me that.” Han Xiao’s face was apathetic. He opened wide his palms and grabbed Liu Cheng’s head, his fingers penetrating his skull.

He only let out a turbid breath when Liu Cheng finally stopped breathing.

He was a formidable opponent, almost causing me to suffer a defeat.

He took one last look at Liu Cheng’s corpse and activated a high-explosive bullet to protect his body from scavengers. After which, he followed the sound of gunfire and returned to Green Valley Ville’s battlefield.

The battle was even more intense. Green Valley Ville’s gates had been blown up, the armed tanks were hurtling past the streets, and machine guns were exchanging fire. Green Valley Ville’s residents had secured their doors and windows, covered their ears, and were trembling in their houses. Lu Cheng’s troops were conscious of the ordinary residents and had avoided them.

Since Liu Cheng had dragged him into the battle, Han Xiao decided to get the battle over quickly. Han Xiao set off to find Green Valley Ville’s commander. He searched for the person giving commands, but he soon realized that no one was giving any commands.

There were vehicle trails on the ground on the far end of Green Valley Ville that hinted to the whereabouts of Balsas and Xiao Rui.

They’ve escaped?

…

The off-road vehicle travelled along in the gloomy forest, and the sound of gunfire in Green Valley Ville gradually became dimmer. Xiao Rui, who was in the back seat, could see the flames behind them peeking through the trees.

“Liu Cheng has died…” Xiao Rui clenched his fists and pressed them on his knees. He could barely restrain his trembling.

Liu Cheng had served the family for ten over years. He was loyal and devoted. Furthermore, he was the best fighter among the family’s ranks. He had many stunning military accomplishments. Xiao Rui had always considered him a strong supporter—to think that he would die at the hands of Black Phantom!

Xiao Rui originally thought that even if Liu Cheng were unable to stall Black Phantom, he would still be able to retreat. However, even though he did not manage to catch Liu Cheng’s last words in the earphones when Liu Cheng was escaping, he knew his supporter was dying!

Balsas and four other armed bodyguards were in the vehicle. Balsas was looking rather nervous.

“Black Phantom is a monster. I told you earlier not to provoke him! You just refused to listen!” Balsas was sweating profusely.

Xiao Rui’s complexion was ashen. “Don’t talk rubbish, at least we’ve escaped!”

“He won’t catch up with us, right?” Balsas repeatedly looked at the rear-view mirror, his heart pounding.

Xiao Rui gulped. “Lu Cheng is currently attacking Green Valley Ville, and the guards in the towns will help us stall the enemy; he won’t have time to chase and kill us.”

He had just finished speaking when a ghost-like figure appeared in the rear-view mirror, tailing the vehicle like a shadow. Everyone in the vehicle was so shocked that they screamed!

“He’s here!”

“Go faster!”

“Accelerate all the way, and don’t let up!”

Everyone in the vehicle was panicking; the off-road vehicle resembled a runaway stray dog, frantically speeding up. They managed to shake off Han Xiao for a moment, but this was not the time to feel relieved. The vehicle somewhat slowed down, and the black-colored ghost, which resembled a hostile force that was difficult to get rid of, appeared in the rear view mirror once again, just like a pressing King of Hell.

Everyone’s adrenaline soared, their hearts practically jumping out of their throats. They were so nervous to the point where their bodies went stiff all over. The horror movie-like atmosphere finally triggered the driver to make a mistake. In the state of panic, the vehicle rolled down the slope and fell to the bottom.

Xiao Rui’s head was spinning as he struggled to climb out of the window. Suddenly, a pair of boots that flickered with blue lights appeared in his vision. He looked up and saw Black Phantom towering over him, looking at him indifferently.

“Don’t, don’t kill me…”

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The gunshots sounded repeatedly. Xiao Rui was so frightened that he shut his eyes and discovered that there was no pain. He opened his eyes and realized that the four bodyguards had all been shot and killed—only Balsas and himself were left.

Xiao Rui shivered. He knew that he had to remain calm in this situation. However, his fear of death made it impossible for him to calm down. His frightened emotions were like tides, flooding his heart again and again, so much so that he did not dare look directly into Han Xiao’s eyes. “Black… Black Phantom, spare my life. I can give you tremendous returns.”

Han Xiao’s eyebrow jumped. The reason he had kept Xiao Rui was because Xiao Rui was sandwiched between the bodyguards. Hence, he reckoned that he was an important character.

Balsas regretted having a conflict with Black Phantom but regretted listening to Xiao Rui’s opinion more so. He raised his head and looked straight in Han Xiao’s eyes. “You’re a liar, you had already united with Lu Cheng. You absolutely were not just passing by!”

Whatever Black Phantom had said—that he was not interested in looking for trouble—was all a lie!

Han Xiao stroked his gun and chuckled. “If I said this was a coincidence, would you believe it?”

“Landing in your hands, I already know I won’t be able to live. Kill me!” Balsas suddenly grew a backbone and shook off Xiao Rui’s hand, which was pulling at his shirt’s hem anxiously.

“I don’t know if you’re really asking for death or deliberately displaying your strong-will, but as you wish.”

Bang!

The bullet penetrated Balsas’ temple. He fell, and the pool of blood gradually expanded.

Han Xiao’s eyebrow shot up. It looked like Balsas was not pretending; he really had given up all hope and wished for a quick death. For this type of warlord who operated outside the city, even if he was usually afraid of death, when he was truly confronted with it, he would accept it calmly.

There was someone, on the other hand, who was way weaker. Han Xiao looked over and Xiao Rui was so terrified that he did not dare breathe. His face was pale, and his back was drenched in cold sweat.

Han Xiao squatted and used the gun barrel to tap on Xiao Rui’s face. “You don’t wish to die?”

Xiao Rui frantically shook his head.

“Give me a reason.”

“I… I can give you a lot of money. I can refer you to the Alumera family!”

“Do I look like someone who needs that?” Han Xiao pointed the muzzle at himself.

Xiao Rui swallowed his saliva in alarm as he racked his brains and pondered if there was anything that could move Han Xiao. Han Xiao’s eyes were sharp, and he suddenly caught a glimpse of Xiao Rui’s full and bulging pocket. He reached out and fished out a stack of bounty slip. It turned out to be a wanted poster for Zero—him.

Why is this Alumera man carrying with him my bounty slip?

Han Xiao raised his eyebrows, played with the paper in his hands, and stared at Xiao Rui silently. Xiao Rui finally saw something that aroused his interest. Xiao Rui immediately felt refreshed and hurriedly spilled everything he knew frankly.

“Han Xiao? Zero? Alumera family‽”

After hearing the information, Han Xiao stiffened.

He did not know that his original self came from the Alumera family!

“… You didn’t lie to me, right?”

Xiao Rui shook his head repeatedly. Black Phantom appeared to be interested in Zero; he did not care about the reason, all he knew was he now had a chance of survival. Hence, he did not dare conceal anything and struggled to take out a computer in the vehicle to pull up several photos.

The photo showed Han Xiao’s younger self before he was taken away by the Germinal Organization. There was concrete proof in all kinds of photos from the Alumera family. Han Xiao did not doubt his identity.

So, this means I have a step-father and a bunch of brothers and sisters?

Han Xiao’s feelings were complicated. He had always thought that he had not a worry or a concern in this world; he did not expect to have these connections.

Alumera was his family. Han Xiao took one look at Xiao Rui. This person is my family, too?

Alumera family, the North Continent’s biggest warlord. The second leader in command, Xiao Jin, was my original body’s biological father. Their family was considered powerful…

Han Xiao pondered in silence.

Xiao Rui’s heart was nearly at his throat; he felt like he was a convict waiting for his sentence. This was the longest one minute of his life.

“You can leave,” Han Xiao faintly said.

Xiao Rui did not dare to believe it. He stood up, trembling, and ran two steps away in the opposite direction. He turned his head and saw an aloof Han Xiao. Only then was he ecstatic.

His life was saved!

He did not carry any thoughts of revenge. He did not want to have any further interactions with Black Phantom at all. He stretched his legs and ran for his life.

Suddenly, there was a sharp pain at the back of his head!

Xiao Rui lost his control of his body. He fell with his face down, resembling a dog eating its poop. His pupils dilated, and his face looked bewildered.

What happened to me?

So cold…

This was Xiao Rui’s last thought in this world.

There was a deep bullet hole in the back of Xiao Rui’s head, and blood was spilling out.

Han Xiao put the Berserk Eagle back in his holster, his face emotionless. After thinking for a bit, he had still decided to kill Xiao Rui.

Alumera was the connections that Han Xiao’s original self had, but that unfortunate man had already died. Han Xiao was Han Xiao, not another person. Even if the old Han Xiao had remaining blood relations, Han Xiao would not treat the Alumera family as his family. Anyway, the old Han Xiao had been killed by his big brother.

He would not inherit the relationships that the old Han Xiao had. To him, the Alumera family was a bunch of strangers, and it was none of his concern.

I’ll kill when there’s a need to!

Perhaps Han Xiao could get some support from the Alumera family by using his original identity, but with his current position, he did not need to yield and rely on this kind of power.

The most important point was that he did not wish to do it this way.

My family… is not in this world.

He lit the corpse on fire, turned around, and left. The blazing flame pulled his silent shadow longer and longer.

In the headquarters of the Alumera family…

“Green Valley Ville on the South Continent was ambushed. We have lost that territory. The last message from them was an hour ago. Liu Cheng died in the battle, Balsas and Xiao Rui have retreated as well. No news has been heard from them yet. I think they may be in trouble.”

The exquisite crystal wine glass was smashed to the ground, and red wine splattered onto the expensive hand-made Ordina carpet, leaving trails of red roses. Darryl, the leader of the family, was breathing noisily as though he was a bear. His body was bulky like a bear, too, hence his nickname—the Alumera White Bear.

This was Darryl’s study. He was rather violent by nature. His bookshelf was not for books but for displaying all kinds of guns. Firearms, ammunition, daggers, swords—his miniature arsenal collection.

“Who attacked our people‽” Darryl snarled.

In front of the desk was a well-dressed, middle-aged man. He was wearing something similar to a suit, but with minor differences in some places. It was way more refined and exquisite. He was wearing a gold-rimmed glasses, and the gold-plated chains of the glasses hanged on his ear. If one overlooked the muscle under his clothes, this person was an archetypal scholar.

He was Alumera’s second in command, Xiao Jin.

Xiao Jin held the tablet with one hand and said, “There are two of them. One is the big warlord of South Continent, Lu Cheng.”

“I have heard of his name. Gather the armed men in South Continent! An eye for an eye! Alumera will seek this revenge!”

Darryl patted the table and asked, “Who might the other person be?”

“He’s the assassin from the Dark Net, Black Phantom.”

“Bring him to…” As he said these three words, Darryl’s tone changed and came to his senses. “How did we end up provoking him‽”

Darryl was very wary about Black Phantom, a legendary killer. He knew it was best not to provoke lone rangers like him. While the Alumera family was big, they were most fearful of legendary killers like him. If he wanted to start a mad killing spree to assassinate the middle-class of the Alumera family, it would be impossible to stop him.

Although Darryl was impulsive by nature, he knew who not to provoke. Dealing with Lu Cheng was an effortless decision; Lu Cheng’s forces were entangled in South Continent, and he was not going to affect the Alumeras’ influence in the North. Black Phantom, on the other hand, was different. He was a lone ranger who could travel up to the North. He had even slain Liu Cheng. Whether the Alumera family ‘s top forces could even hurt the Black Phantom was still a question in doubt.

Furthermore, Black Phantom’s movements were erratic. There were not many reports on him through the intelligence network, and without an expansive intelligence network, they could not track him down. In addition, the organization he belonged to was in fact the world’s largest intelligence network. If they wanted to target someone from the Dark Net Organization and requested help from the Dark Net itself, it would be ridiculous. Darryl was eighty percent sure he would be called a fool.

Therefore, becoming enemies with the Black Phantom was certainly an unwise decision. Darryl could only suppress his anger and find other excuses. “Investigate the reason the Black Phantom is intervening. Don’t provoke him just yet.”

Xiao Jin agreed with an expressionless face. It was hard to know what he was thinking about.

Darryl had always been an impatient man, and now that he was frustrated. He pointed to Xiao Jin’s face and ordered, “Go deal with your son’s business. The war is coming. I don’t wish to deal with any sort of Germinal’s business at this time.”

Xiao Jin adjusted his glasses and said, “He’s my son. Once I find him, he will come back obediently.”

…

Day was about to break, and the gunfire in Green Valley Ville was finally coming to an end. The remaining enemies had all been killed.

When Lu Cheng had conquered Green Valley Ville, he ordered his troops to clear the battlefield and restrained them from harming any residents.

The worried residents who could not sleep for the entire night rushed to the streets and listened to the new master of the town, Lu Cheng, in the square. He promised to safeguard the residents’ lives and property.

For the [Green Valley Ville Invasion] task, players who had chosen to protect the camp had all failed and were feeling dejected.

The battle last night had been very intense, and many players wished it had been longer.

Han Xiao also gained some experience from the task. He held his arm and leaned against a house to wait for Lu Cheng to complete his speech. He had Frenzied Sword and Bun-hit-dog by his side.

Frenzied Sword was in bad mood as he was not able to keep Han Xiao to himself now. He was upset.

Bun-hit-dog went over to Frenzied Sword and said, “I know you. You were featured on Galaxy Times. You are a professional gamer.”

“Oh.” Frenzied Sword reacted coldly.

“Have you always been following Black Phantom?” Bun-hit-dog was curious.

Frenzied Sword did not want to bother with Bun-hit-dog, but as a professional player, he had to take note of his image, and he should not be too cold. He nodded.

“Do you know his origins?”

“His real name is Han Xiao,” Frenzied Sword replied. He came to realization immediately and turned around to see if Han Xiao had heard him. He relaxed. “He used to serve Star Dragon. I’m not very sure about the exact details, but I do know that he is acquainted with someone in the camp called Stardragon Strategic Defense Department.”

Bun-hit-dog’s eyes lit up. The video he wanted to make would be an investigation about Black Phantom’s origin. Frenzied Sword had been his longest follower. He was likely to know things that others did not. He was impressed. He said in a light-hearted manner, “Let me introduce myself. I am a game video producer…”

Frenzied Sword stared blankly. He only recalled now, that Bun-hit-dog’s ID was rather familiar. He was the producer of the series “XX Adventure Diaries”. When he was playing Knight in the past, he had come across Bun-hit-dog’s Knight Adventure Diaries as well. He was a small yet famous video maker.

“It’s you!” Frenzied Sword collected himself up. When he received Bun-hit-dog’s friend request, he immediately accepted it.

Only status and fame would bring one recognition. If he was a plain and dull player, Frenzied Sword would not even have bothered. Thing were different when one was famous.

“I’m preparing to focus on Galaxy and start a series. I’m intending to place Black Phantom as my focus in my first episode. I would like to know more about this person’s origins. I hope you can provide me with some material. You could appear on screen together with me to do a series as well.”

Han Xiao never talked about his origins, so Bun-hit-dog decided to change his focus onto Frenzied Sword.

“Alright, sure,” Frenzied Sword replied. This was a win-win situation. A professional gamer appearing on the program was bound to rise in reputation. This would be good exposure for him.

Listening to the two discussing behind him, Han Xiao did not stop them. Frenzied Sword had limited knowledge about him. Such information could be disclosed and made known, and this would only make more players curious. He wanted to reveal the information bit by bit. This was precisely his intention in bringing Bun-hit-dog along.

After assuring the residents of Green Valley Ville, Lu Cheng handed over the affairs to the deputy and went to Han Xiao’s side. “Black Phantom, thank you for your aid. If not for you, I would not have conquered Green Valley Ville. If only Balsas didn’t escape…”

“Oh, I killed him.”

Lu Cheng’s face went blank, and he felt a tight squeeze on his heart. “I am very grateful, but do… you really not want anything?”

Han Xiao chuckled a little and changed the topic. “Have you discovered the unique aspects of the refugees?”

Upon mentioning this, Lu Cheng was delighted. “This group of refugees can all die and then resurrect. It’s simply amazing! I thought they were simple ordinary people. This world is so big, and it seems like nothing is impossible!”

Lu Cheng originally did not plan for the refugees to join the battle. But as the players took action, he soon realized that they had the special ability to resurrect. He was shocked, and he figured out what Han Xiao had originally meant. These helpers were just too special. He had looked down on them. Now he knew why they were not afraid to die. That was because they simply just do not die.

Bun-hit-dog, who was by the side, felt that something was strange. Refugees? Are they actual players? Why would the NPC think that the players resurrecting is strange? Won’t an NPC not be bothered with that?

Han Xiao pulled Lu Cheng to the side. He did not want other players to hear what he was going to tell Lu Cheng.

“Black Phantom, do you know the origin of these refugees?” Lu Cheng curiously asked.

“I’m not too sure,” Han Xiao replied, “but I do know that they are very diligent. They are extremely profit-driven. Didn’t you destroy Green Valley Ville? You need these people to rebuild the place. These refugees are the best laborers you can find. You can use them to your liking.”

“But some refugees were against me before. They are my enemies…”

“Their assistance to Balsas was not a loyal and faithful one. You can treat them as mercenaries.”

When he said this, Lu Cheng understood it. “I can try… You really don’t know what happened to them? They can all resurrect, is it just their special ability? We don’t know where Balsas found this group of people.”

Han Xiao smiled and said, “Time will tell you the answer.”

Lu Cheng nodded, and he decided to suppress his questions regarding the refugees for now. He would get his subordinates to find some information regarding it.

He invited Han Xiao to his territory—the Black Pine Base—for a tour. Han Xiao said that there was no need to pay him back, but Lu Cheng did not dare take his word for it and insisted on offering his services.

Han Xiao did not resist further. His intention was to get to know Lu Cheng better anyway.

Before this, Han Xiao checked on the Dark Net. Lu Cheng was the one of the strongest vagrant warlords in the Southern Continent. Black Pine territory was so huge that small towns like Green Valley Ville would be insignificant placed next to it. Black Pine sat amid the ruins of a small city left from the Old Ages. It had been transformed into a settlement that tens of thousands of civilians resided in. There was a plethora of facilities, including even biological and weaponry research laboratories. Everything was really high end.

Territory owned by vagrant warlord and territory owned by vagrants were completely different concepts. The latter was formed with vagrants who band together against threats from the wild, with a responsible leader chosen democratically. There would rarely be hierarchies.

With vagrant warlords, they would be the leader who would use their resources to build a residential area. The area would be built such that it could take in some vagrants from the outside world, and the leaders could collect protection fees from them. The fees could be paid in the form of tax or labor. There would be purposeful usage of military power, for example to attack other warlords. Most of the soldiers were employed, but there were some who signed on voluntarily.

There were many warlords, and their territories, coming in all sizes, were distributed across every continent. Bennett’s shelter plan was aimed at unifying all the warlords and creating a new mega city that stood apart from the Six Nations and provided shelter for all refugees. Naturally, this would clash with the goals of the warlords. Moreover, it would be a very large and tedious project.

Bennett’s plan would provide help and shelter for all vagrants out there, not just from war but from other natural and wild dangers. It was nothing but ambitious.

Lu Cheng invited Han Xiao into his car and drove toward the Black Pine.

Green Valley Ville’s players could still get quests from the town, and those who chose to defend the base were surprised and relieved to find out that their access to the town did not get revoked. They watched Black Phantom as he left.

…

There was one more person with them now that Bun-hit-dog had joined the team.

The scenery outside the window flew past. Han Xiao made a call and instructed the Dark Net helicopter pilot to wait for him at Black Pine. He told Lu Cheng about this, who acknowledged and ordered for a landing site to be prepared.

They were chatting casually while Han Xiao suddenly asked, “With your military strength, you could have attacked immediately when you came to the town, and the refugees could not have stopped you. Why did you give Balsas time to prepare?”

Lu Cheng shook his head. He had not known that players could revive at that time. He said, “Only people without faith would think that violence is the solution to every problem.”

“Your soldiers’ lives are lives too though.” Han Xiao smiled.

“The strong ought to protect the weak.” Lu Cheng paused and said, “I won’t kill unarmed refugees; no warlord want to see the Tragedy of La Potter repeat itself.

“Tragedy of La Potter? What happened?” Bun-hit-dog questioned, still recording.

Lu Cheng thought Frenzied Sword and Bun-hit-dog were Han Xiao’s followers, so out of respect, he explained, “La Potter was once a huge Vagrant settlement in the West Continent. It was invaded by a Vagrant Warlord and his troops. Even though the military troops were supported by the locals, the enemies were too strong, and they were defeated. The warlord was upset that the vagrants dared fight against him, so he initiated a massacre of the helpless and unarmed civilians, raiding all their supplies and burning everything, killing countless innocent souls.

Bun-hit-dog was unimpressed. Massacres like this had occurred numerous times in history. He probed, “So what happened then?”

“Then, the warlord and all of the few hundreds of his professional soldiers died in one night twenty days after that, killed single-handedly by one superhuman. After that, no warlord had the guts to kill any innocent civilians.”

Bun-hit-dog was puzzled. “Why though?”

Han Xiao answered, unfazed, “Because some people see themselves as heroes.”

If it was the normal world, no one could fight against the cruel authorities. Nothing could be done. However, with superhuman powers, even in lawless lands, those with powers could technically become those in charge of upholding laws. Superhumans could easily kill those that they did not see fit, so what they chose to uphold became the standard law for everyone else on the planet.

So, what would they choose to uphold? It would be the issues that most people would agree on based on their moral compass.

Unless one could carry out genocide or murder on a massive scale without letting any news out, there was bound to be a superhuman to punish the instigator for his evil deeds. This could be seen as moral coercion. The weak had to follow the moral standards of the strong. Even though this in itself was questionable, it gave rise to a rough form of rules for the wild and indirectly protected the lives of vagrants.

Bun-hit-dog recorded all this. He loved this type of stuff that could spice up his content.

Han Xiao stroked his chin. The Tragedy of La Potter reminded him of another wild BOSS.

La Potter was a mess. The burned corpses were left unattended and attracted beasts. A new virus sprouted from the corpses and spread into the soil and water sources. All the beasts in the region mutated, and every once in a while, there would be a Beast King level wild BOSS found there, which could trigger a quest to kill the BOSS and harvest its mutated heart for a research group. This would lead to potions that could add on attributes and might even awaken potential talents.

The players could repeatedly fight the wild BOSS, but the usual process of grinding through quests would be inevitable.

In Galaxy, there were a few types of Instance Dungeons, the first being the special scene where monsters spawned endlessly, such as some magical realms or mock combat rooms in labs. Other than these special realms, in Galaxy’s world, there were also important realms that were protected by military troops. Large-scaled battlefields could also be made into an Instance Dungeon. This type of Instance Dungeon was extremely random and could close anytime.

The second type would be Instance Dungeon Crystal, which was a special item dropped from special quests. Only players could use it, and it would bring the player back in time to a parallel world to experience events that had happened in the past. The Crystal would allow a player to enter different scenes based on the quest that the player came from.

The quests that awarded the Instance Dungeon Crystal would refresh once in a while, making this type of dungeon a readily accessible one. The players could also steadily grind to break the record of the shortest dungeon clearance time and other records.

Upon using the Instance Dungeon Crystal, others would see that the player had suddenly vanished. The player would enter a parallel universe and could not affect the original world. However, they could still obtain rewards from the Instance Dungeon. This type of dungeon was similar to magic teleportation and scientific time travelling. Han Xiao was not sure if he could use the Crystal as well, but he felt that it would be risky because he did not know the principles behind the Crystal. If it were to atomize the body structure, a normal player would be able to revive, but he did not have the luxury.

Some special items could be used by players only, such as the Gene-awakening Elixir that could be purchased from the vendor. A potion would appear out of thin air after purchasing it. There was also the Gene-blending Elixir that Han Xiao received as reward from the Rose Militant Quest earlier on. The Instance Dungeon Crystal fell under a similar category.

Let’s not risk it in trying to get the Instance Dungeon Crystal.

Indeed, it would be a waste of time. He would rather complete main quests and hidden quests.

The car fleet drove on for a few hours, and the silhouette of the Black Pine Settlement appeared on the horizon. It was huge, almost like a small city. The scenery was very exotic; there were bricks, leather, and scrap metal lying around, and there were electric wires crawling along the walls. The path with barbed wire fences on its sides was the only path that led up to the main entrance, and there were many ‘scars’ of war on the metallic door, left behind by bullets and explosions.

Lu Cheng smiled and proudly said, “Welcome to Black Pine.”

“It’s enormous.” Bun-hit-dog gasped. “This can’t be the place where newbies first enter?”

The main gate slowly opened as the car entered the gates. The first thing that came into sight was the magnificent lookout tower, sandbag barricades, and the barracks. Fully-armed soldiers were standing guard and patrolling the area. Further into the encampment, they arrived at the residential district.

The layout of buildings in the residential district was much sparser and more casual than the structured planning of cities. There were no tall buildings as well. Families were strolling through the streets, and there were even hawkers calling out and making sales. With the lively chatter in the streets, it was like a mini-market.

The car rolled to a stop as several people alighted. Lu Cheng ordered several of his men to prepare a feast. Since he had invited Han Xiao to be his guest, he brought Han Xiao and the other two around for a tour as the host. Occasionally, some residents would greet Lu Cheng. It seemed Lu Cheng was well-respected by his people.

“That’s my weapon factory over there. I have a specialized assembly line to make guns and ammunition.” Lu Cheng pointed to a restricted region that was barricaded with a barbed-wire fence. Behind it were his warehouse, workshop, and weaponry experimental laboratory, and smoke could be seen escaping from the chimneys.

On the other side, there was a second quarantined area. Inside, there were many tents and about a few hundred vagrants living inside them. Their exposed skin was covered in gray ash, cracked like rocks.

“What is that place?” Bun-hit-dog asked curiously.

Sighing, Lu Cheng answered, “The Terminal Quarantine Area. Any resident with Grouper Plague has to stay there to prevent infections.”

Grouper Plague?

Han Xiao almost cried out in surprise. This type of illness was very infectious. In the version 2.0, it had spread and had caused some genetic mutations as well. He did not expect to find it here.

Just as he was about to say something, a sudden commotion could be heard from the Terminal Quarantine Area.

Sprinting in a frenzied manner, an infected resident rushed toward the barbed-wire fence. With all of his limbs, he tried to climb the fence to escape. However, the next second, a gunshot was heard. The security officer at the side reacted at lightning speed, firing at the man with his machine gun, turning this escaped resident into mesh as he fell to the ground. As he lay in his pool of blood, a viscous, yellow liquid could be seen pooling out from the corpse as well.

Several doctors in their white protective suits walked out and packed the corpse into a body bag. On the ground where the corpse was, they sprayed large jets of disinfectant.

The soldier who killed the escaping resident withdrew his gun, expressionless, as if he had just killed a worthless chicken.

The infected within the quarantine area watched this scene in silence, expressionless and numb. A thick atmosphere of despair hung in the air like a dark, heavy cloud.

“It is very hard to cure those who have been infected with this plague. To prevent them from spreading the plague to more people, we can only control it like this,” Lu Cheng explained.

Han Xiao turned to look. Nearby, the residents looked as though everything was as usual, without a single trace of empathy on their faces.

“That’s cold-blooded,” Bun-hit-dog quietly said.

“At first, there were only tens of people who were infected. One infected knew that he couldn’t be treated and escaped from the quarantine region, so the number of people infected increased to more than three hundred,” Lu Cheng said dryly.

Bun-hit-dog was speechless.

_____________________

You have triggered the quest [Origins of the Grouper Plague].

Quest Description: Black Pine Settlement is troubled by the spread of the Grouper Plague. To control this plague, what do you think you can do?

Quest Requirements:

1. Find the source of the Grouper Plague

2. Control the plague from spreading

3. Treat all of the infected

Rewards:

Completed Requirement 1 – 20,000 Experience

Completed Requirement 2 – 40,000 Experience

Completed Requirement 3 – 60,000 Experience

All Requirements Completed –800 Black Pine reputation points, Vagrant Warrior Battle suit

_____________________

Frenzied Sword and Bun-hit-dog both received the quest as well.

However, Han Xiao did not intend to complete this quest. He was still in a rush to find more fools… No, to bring even more new players into the Mechanic Class. He needed to go to about ten or so novice villages, and a large wave of experience was waiting for him. Time was tight, and he had many things to do. How could he afford to slow down his footsteps?

Oh right, if the players complete their quests, can I claim the rewards, too? Han Xiao’s eyes lit up. Looking at Frenzied Sword, who was completely unaware, he suddenly had a new idea.

“My men have prepared a feast.” Lu Cheng sent out the invitation, and the few of them arrived at Black Pine’s Central Building. It was like a mini castle, and the western point was called the Lord’s Hall.

The dishes served in the feast were generous in quantity, meant to fill one’s stomach. Black Pine Settlement had a harvest field where they grew their own crops, and they also had their own butchery, where they raised animals, such as highland cattle, chicken, and the black-haired short-snout hog. The vagrants’ encampment consumed large amounts of resources every day. If they relied only on the Dark Net to obtain their resources, they would not be able to bear the costs, especially because it was extremely expensive. So, the residents learned to be self-sufficient, building their own tiny territory.

At the feast, Han Xiao and Lu Cheng were chatting casually when Lu Cheng eventually diverted the topic to the issue of repaying the favor to the Black Phantom. Dragging it on for so long, he felt very uneasy.

“Just take it as we’ve become friends. In the future, if anything crops up, feel free to look for me, and I’ll help you out.” Han Xiao left his phone number behind. He wanted to maintain his friendship with Lu Cheng so that he could find out when the Four Blueprint Quest began. Thinking for a while, he said, “Come to think of it, I need some help from you. I want to borrow your workshop and some materials to make something.”

“No problem, I’ll make arrangements right away.” Lu Cheng felt more at ease. He felt reassured after Han Xiao finally brought up a request for him.

“Your territory has to deal with the issue of the Grouper Plague quickly, otherwise it might become a disaster. My friends will stay behind to help you out.” Han Xiao suddenly slapped Frenzied Sword’s back, who spat out all of the food in his mouth, coughing non-stop.

“Are you abandoning me?” Frenzied Sword asked disbelievingly.

I’m not interested in being your mom. Han Xiao held back his biting comments as he wrote up a few quests and tossed them out for Frenzied Sword and Bun-hit-dog to complete.

The gist of the quests was to have the two of them remain at Black Pine, resolve the issue of the plague, and improve their reputation in Black Pine. Han Xiao spent 200,000 Experience, splitting it between the both of them. The quests were all long-term ones, and he intended for both of them to stay at Black Pine.

With the remaining journey and tasks at the novice villages, there was no need to bring these two players with him. It made going online and offline inconvenient and slowed him down as well. He might as well just leave them to complete their quests in Black Pine.

For the gifted players he had selected, he was not only going to train them himself, but there was another benefit. That was, they could follow him and gain exposure to high-level fights. Compared to other players, they could expand their maps earlier, which was the main attraction in allowing players to follow him. For now, allowing the gifted players to complete other tasks and train by grinding was useful in developing their individual unique skills. It could allow them to explore and tap into their potential. It also gave him more time to himself to do other tasks.

As for the rewards that these gifted players received, sooner or later, a part of it would come back to him. If Frenzied Sword completed the plague quest, Han Xiao could get some experience as well, and Frenzied Sword would use a portion of the money he earned to buy equipment from Han Xiao.

Not only did he want to earn players’ gold, but through players, he could earn NPCs’ second-hand gold as well!

If Han Xiao was a mother ship, the players that he took under his wing would be akin to a fleet of fighters. No matter how many achievements they obtained, they would still have to return to their home base and repay him. Of course, that was only under the condition of him being able to achieve and attain even greater benefits. On this note, he was still very confident. Other than the players themselves, there was no other person who understood players better than him.

I’m such a genius.

Frenzied Sword could only agree to Han Xiao’s arrangements, and he was actually quite satisfied. Black Pine was a high-level map, and the rewards for each quest were quite generous too. Bun-hit-dog had even less objections. The materials he had looted were already enough. Staying in Black Pine meant that he did not have to worry about losing track of Han Xiao. He could focus on making the first episode of his video.

Lu Cheng felt that Frenzied Sword and Bun-hit-dog’s abilities were very mediocre and could not help much. But on Han Xiao’s account, he expressed his thanks to them anyway.

At the dining table, they settled their plans. After eating, it was already past noon, and Lu Cheng went back to take a rest. The previous night, he had been battling and had not slept. In the morning, they were on the roads, rushing to get back, and he was thoroughly exhausted.

On the other hand, Han Xiao had slept on the car for a while and was in high spirits. He could move about Black Pine freely, so he gave some orders to the pilot of the Dark Net helicopter. Then, after bargaining with Antonio for ten over minutes, he arranged to lease the transport plane from the Fabian Company.

After that, under the Black Pine soldiers’ lead, he headed toward the weapon factory area. The guards there received Lu Cheng’s orders. Accordingly, they opened up the workshop for Han Xiao to use.

Lu Cheng had already arranged for his men to prepare the materials. Han Xiao began his work on the lathe. He needed to make some repairs to the Magnetically controlled retractable armor, and add on a load of ammunition and some Basic Storage Cubes, then create some small parts to be built onto the ‘Sunworm’ Flamethrower he had developed recently.

With its intelligence stat at 200, the machine’s production speed was very fast, and there were other enhancing skills such as Machinery Affinity and Energy Stats Strengthened, which would create even better stats on the device to be created.

_____________________

Sunworm Portable Flamethrower (Mini Flamethrower)

Grade: Blue (Good Quality)

Damage: 27–34/s (Fire)

Overload: 60s

Cooldown: 20s

Range: 7m

Power Output: 92

Fuel Type: HF Liquid Fuel

Energy: 210/210 (uses 1 Energy Point/s)

Weight: 9.4kg

Side Effect: Integration—Through additions to the energy box, it is assimilated with one’s body, convenient to carry.

Side Effect: Concentrated Jet—Raise efficiency of fuel, +33% DMG, +25% range, one tick of Burn Damage per 0.6s and lasting 12s, uses 8 Energy Points/s. After 12 seconds, immediately enters overload.

Side Effect: Adhesive Burning—Extends target’s burn state and increases effectiveness of burns

Remarks: Dancing flames, that is a warmth that is akin to romance.

_____________________

Han Xiao raised his eyebrows. What kind of messed up remark is that?

Sunworm’s nozzle, duct, and fuel tank were integrated as one. It looked like a heat insulating metal tube, about an arm’s width. It could be tied to the arm or calf. It looked a little like a beetle, and its ‘pincers’ were used to stabilize the leather metal pins.

He tied the Sunworm onto the inner side of his left arm, and it seemed bloated. However, such a load could be ignored for a person with 69 Strength.

Sunworm is most suited to be used as mecha module, and it can be integrated into my self-created lightweight mecha. Han Xiao could not stop thinking of new ideas for his lightweight mecha. Since he already had ideas, as well as Fabian’s transport aircraft on lease, he started fixing his mecha before travelling to the novice village.

At that time, an Asian man whose head was full of white hair walked toward him. He stared at Han Xiao’s High Ghost sniper rifle and curiously muttered, “That’s right. It is an electromagnetic weapon!”

He then turned and asked Han Xiao, “Can you sell this to me? I’m willing to pay 500,0… no, 1,000,000!”

Han Xiao observed him for a second and already had some gut feels. Yet, he pretended to be confused and asked, “Who are you?”

“I am Lei Zhen Yu. Lu Cheng invited me over as his Machinery Engineering consultant. You look like a Mechanic too. You should have heard of my name.”

Han Xiao remained silent.

“Don’t tell me you have not heard of my name. Or are you a self-taught mechanic? So unusual.” Lei Zhen was surprised. He shook his head and said, “I want this electromagnetic sniper; how about you quote a price?”

“Do I look like I’m in need of cash?” Han Xiao pointed at that priceless components that were lying on the truck’s seat.

Lei Zhen Yu then understood. “You are a self-taught mechanic. I can teach you some skills in exchange for this sniper of yours. You definitely need a master like me to guide you. Only through listening to the wise words of your seniors can you succeed. I can tell that deep down inside, you have always wanted to have a master to learn from. Here, the doors are opened for you. This is your chance. If you miss it, you will regret for life.”

He did not know that this electromagnetic sniper rifle was made by Han Xiao. From what he knew, self-taught mechanics were often weak. Hence, he wanted to nab that sniper by teaching Han Xiao some new skills. As a mechanic master, he did not usually go around teaching other people. By giving Han Xiao the chance, he thought that it was worth it to exchange it for the electromagnetic sniper rifle, as long as the other party was humble enough.

Han Xiao’s eyes twitched. It was the first time he had ever met someone who was so shameless and full of himself. With just a bit more, both of their skills would have been on par.

Actually, Han Xiao knew of Lei Zhen Yu’s background. He was a well-known and skillful master mechanic in Aquamarine. So, he was not wrong about saying that he was a master. He belonged to the same era as Old Man Lu and had already retired decades ago. Both he and Old Man Lu did not have the master demeanor and looked disappointing to most.

Han Xiao knew why Lei Zhen Yu appeared at Black Pine. It was related to Old Man Lu’s four blueprints mission, and coincidentally, Lei Zhen Yu happened to be part of this secret mission.

In the past, Lu Cheng abandoned his daughter, who was only a few years old, and left her in the care of Old Man Lu. He ventured into the wild and became a warlord. Because of this incident, he had a fight with Old Man Lu, who was unable to understand his choices at that time. The relationship between the father and son was so tensed that it was as though they were strangers.

Lu Cheng slowly climbed up and became the strongest warlord on the Southern Continent. He was always facing various dangers.

On the surface, Old Man Lu seemed as though he did not want any affiliation with his son. However, he was secretly following Lu Cheng closely and even requested that his old friend, Lei Zhen Yu, move to Black Pine to help and protect Lu Cheng. Lu Cheng knew nothing about the pact. He was shocked as he thought that he had managed to invite a great master all by himself.

This might be the moment for the four blueprints. Lei Zhen Yu had to leave Black Pine due to some other matters. Old Man Lu used another method to help Lu Cheng as he did not wish to meet his son in an awkward situation. He left the blueprints behind and left for the Western Capital, and his current whereabouts were still not known.

Maybe that’s what they call a father. Han Xiao sighed. Why was Zhu Zi Qing’s ‘The View of my Father’s Back’ such a classic? Maybe because people with more experiences would be able to resonate with that story. Even Old Man Lu, a foul old stick, had his own worries.

Han Xiao calmed himself and said, “I can exchange with you. I want advanced knowledge.

Based on past memories, Lei Zhen Yu knew some advance knowledge. Yet, players were unable to acquire the knowledge from him. Even so, Han Xiao decided he want to give it a try.

Lei Zhen Yu earnestly said, “Kid, don’t be too ambitious. You are a self-taught mechanic. Your standard is not enough for you to be able to understand advance knowledge. How about I teach you something else instead?”

“No, I only want advance knowledges.”

“But you won’t understand.”

“That’s even better; you don’t have to worry that I will learn it. I’ll just look at it for an hour. Take it as I am just being curious, okay?”

Lei Zhen Yu was speechless. Advance knowledge was very precious, and it could be considered a secret wild card. It was crucial that the knowledge was highly conserved. Even though he was really curious about the structure of the electromagnetic sniper, it was definitely not worth exchanging it with the priceless knowledge. Even though Han Xiao said he might not understand, he did not want to take the risk at all.

Lei Zhen Yu contemplated for a while and insisted, “I can’t teach you the advance knowledge, but I can use the knowledges to create a weapon in exchange for yours.”

Sure enough, it was not easy to get his hands on the advance knowledge. Han Xiao was already prepared for this outcome and was not depressed about it. Instead, he considered Lei Zhen Yu’s offer. If he could create an item to exchange for another item of the same level, there was nothing to lose.

However, this Ghost sniper had only reached this level through several upgrades. Han Xiao still wanted to use it, so he decided to create a new one to exchange with Lei Zhen Yu.

Han Xiao nodded in agreement and said, “I’ll create a new one for you.”

“You made this sniper‽” Lei Zhen Yu shouted in disbelief. He thought Han Xiao looked like a newbie, and given that he was a self-taught mechanic, he expected the gun to be made by someone else. Unfortunately, it turned out to be the opposite.

All the six nations were secretly trying to invent an electromagnetic weapon, and none had even reached the experimental stage. If it was just creating a stable electromagnetic weapon, Han Xiao and Lei Zhen Yu were of the same standard. Lei Zhen Yu then remembered that he had portrayed himself as a ‘great master’ just now. Even with his old face, he felt ashamed and awkward.

How shameful to flaunt his skills in front of another mechanic of the same level.

Luckily, Lei Zhen Yu had thick skin. He corrected his attitude and treated Han Xiao as an equal.

At that time, the guards rushed over and whispered to Lei Zhen Yu that Han Xiao was also a legendary assassin.

Lei Zhen Yu was dumbfounded. He then observed Han Xiao for a while. Many mechanics were capable of experimenting. However, it was rare to find one who was also capable of fighting. His admiration for Han Xiao rose to an even higher level.

With good skills, one would be valued everywhere one went.

“Please come with me, I will show you my storeroom.” Lei Zhen Yu coughed as he tried to change the conversation topic to avoid awkwardness. The way he spoke to Han Xiao was suddenly more respectful.

Both arrived at the restricted area inside of the arsenal area. This was where the high-ranking researchers lived. Lei Zhen Yu’s home was a spacious suite with all sorts of daily necessities. There were even wine cabinets and bookshelves that were made of high-quality wood—all of which was not cheap. By the corner of the room, there was a small, simple bed. He seemed to be leading a great life.

Lei Zhen Yu drew the wine cabinet open and activated the secret door button. The wine cabinet slide to a side and revealed a secret storeroom. He then called Han Xiao over. Inside, there was a row of glass showcase shelves that stood by the wall and contained various weapons. Lei Zhen Yu headed straight for the innermost showcase shelf.

“I have four items that were created using the advance knowledges. Let me introduce them to you.” Lei Zhen Yu pointed to the glass showcase shelf and started blabbering.

Lei Zhen Yu’s advanced knowledges was geared toward miniature modifications. These four advanced weapons were all related to nano mechanisms.

‘Type I Nurse’ Bio-granule. It looked like a thick black substance, but in actual fact, it was able to divide into special nano-granules. They could then be inserted into one’s body. When injured, poisoned, or bleeding, they would help one recover from the situation either by clearing the poison or speeding up blood clotting. It was a type consumable medical treatment.

U9 Colloidal Bulletproof Membrane. It looked just like ordinary glass on the surface. However, upon receiving any shock, it would briefly become non-solid to counteract kinetic energy and then solidify to trap any object. For instance, when a bullet is shot toward it, the bullet would be trapped, as though it was originally growing from within. Though it looked just like transparent glass, it was highly defensive and not easily damaged. It was most suitable for making bulletproof vests.

Fermi Condensate. It was a weapon that resembled the appearance of shaving foam and could be injected into a weapon to cool it down internally. It would reduce the cooldown time and then quickly degrade so as to prevent jamming up the weapon system. Sunworm’s cooldown time, for example, was twenty seconds. With the use of Fermi Condensate, the cooldown time could be reduced significantly to three to five seconds. The effect was remarkable. It could also be consumed.

PE-0 Nano-synthetic Fiber. Similar to the biological tendons of a living organism, it was a black, shiny, tough nanomaterial. Twisting or stretching it would result in an unbelievable elasticity.

Han Xiao could only exchange the sniper for one of those items.

After pondering for a while, Han Xiao made his choice.

“I want the PE-0 Nano-Synthetic Fiber.”

“Wow, that’s smart. I thought a warrior like you, who likes to battle, would go for the Bulletproof Membrane instead.”

“To create something, I will need sufficient PE-0.”

“Alright.” Lei Zhen Yu nodded. He felt that out of the four weapons, PE-0 Nano-Synthetic Fiber was the most valuable one as this new material could be used for many more weapons. He realized that Han Xiao was indeed a skillful mechanic with keen eyes.

As they confirmed the exchange, Han Xiao returned to his truck and began creating a new Ghost sniper rifle. With the help of the blueprint, everything went well.

I’ve earned so much from this exchange!

The new Nano-Synthetic Fiber would play an important part of his lightweight mecha concept. It could be used as the tendon skeletal system of the lightweight mecha! As compared to the previous K600 skeletal system, PE-0 had huge improvements in almost all aspects. For instance, it was small, lightweight, and stronger. It was a great core material to create an outstanding lightweight mecha.

Python-Lightweight Mecha!

PE-0 should not be judged by its simple introduction. When it was used as the internal skeletal system, it would function just like muscle. Anyone who used it would understand.

As for the other three equipment, two of them were consumable—hence, they were instantly dismissed as options. The Bulletproof Membrane seemed reliable, but it contained Platinum, so it barely qualified for the bulletproof function.

To create a new Ghost sniper rifle, Lei Zhen Yu had also brought sufficient amount of PE-0 Nano-Synthetic Fiber and stored it in a golden metal box.

After the two had exchange the items, Lei Zhen Yu could not help but fall in love with the Ghost sniper rifle straight away. Even though his experimental direction was toward lightweight mecha, seeing how electromagnetic weapons could become the conventional weapon for the next generation, he had decided to study them too.

Back then, Old Man Lu had requested him to come over to Black Pine to help Lu Cheng. Since Lei Zhen Yu owed him a debt of gratitude, he had decided to help him then. Every day was boring to him, except for today, as he had encountered Han Xiao, a mechanic that was on par with him. This cheered him up to no end.

“I still need one thing, but there is no channel for me to buy it. I hope you can help me buy a ‘Bonfire’ Mini Reaction Furnace.” Han Xiao packed his box and spoke once more. This item that he needed was a module related to lightweight mecha.

Lei Zhen Yu was a mechanic master. Hence, he knew many people from the same trade and had many connections. He wanted knowledge beyond [Advance Material Study] to build his gun, so he was using Lei Zhen Yu as a channel to help him find some things.

“That item is not easy to get. Besides, even if I ask my friend from Ordina to sell it to me at cost price, it would still cost two to three million. Not to mention, extra time will be needed to make that item.”

“Money isn’t the problem.”

Han Xiao smirked and was full of confidence.

Lei Zhen Yu was a master in the mechanic world, so he knew many other mechanics of the same level. He was enthusiastic toward Han Xiao and agreed to help to contact the ‘Bonfire’ Mini Reaction Furnace seller for him. To Lei Zhen Yu, it was just a few phone calls.

After exchanging their numbers, Lei Zhen Yu took his Ghost sniper rifle and left, while Han Xiao continued with his work in the truck until midnight. After he was done with his work, he switched off the light and headed for his temporary residence with the guards.

The night was quiet. There was no night life in Black Pine settlement. When night fell, all residents would go back home to rest. In the dangerous wild, one would need to remain vigilant to know what to do in case of any possible danger. Also, entertainment was a luxury. In the wild, there were monsters, sickness, hunger, and various catastrophes. With that, warlords had already developed a vigilant attitude.

Due to certain circumstances, some people were forced into joining the Six Nations after the war, while other remained living in the wild as they could not let go of the hatred and would not give in even though their lives were harder. Some thought that it was foolish of them, while others saw it as a belief or even faith. It did not matter which country these people belonged to—patriotic people were always worthy of respect.

What was more important was that many vagrants had already gotten used to living in the wild. Even though their daily meals were not stable, and they might not know when they would ever be full, they did not have to follow any restrictions or rules. Instead, they were living freely. Despite knowing that joining the Six Nations would mean full meals every day, they were not willing to give up on their freedom.

In the age of peace, many people were numb toward life. In order to survive, they hunted like their ancestors and lived every day to its fullest. Even though most vagrants suffer from malnutrition, their physical fitness was better than that of the urban residents. They were strong and diligent.

The wild was regarded as wasteland. Many abandoned cities, battlefields, habitats of plants and animals, and even radioactive areas caused by the pollution from the war had become restricted areas. The Six Nations did not have any intentions of expanding into the wild at the moment, as the cost was too high, and its value was low. During the first few years after the war, the Six Nations decided to stabilize the situation inside their country first. As such, they did not have extra resources to expand their territory. Wild flora started growing on the abandoned land as a result, and it had become the territory of vagrants, warlords, and large groups of mercenaries. Just like the wind that blew by after destruction, the wasteland after the war was once again revived.

…

After a night of rest in his room, Han Xiao called for Frenzied Sword and Bun-hit-dog the next morning.

“I will be away for some time. You guys can stay at Black Pine, and I will contact you later on.”

Bun-hit-dog was reactionless while Frenzied Sword showed his unwillingness. He had only followed Han Xiao for a few days, and now, he was being abandoned again.

“You guys can think of ways to help solve the plague in Black Pine.” Han Xiao pointed at Frenzied Sword. “I have confidence in you that you will show your true potential during this period of time. Maybe you have the ability to use better weapons.”

Han Xiao took out two newly built large caliber pistols that were suitable for shooting within eighty meters. It was specially designed to strengthen the magazines and the attack damage. It was green quality and twice as powerful compared to the pistols that Han Xiao had sold to the other players. He then presented the pistols to Frenzied Sword, who was looking on with his jaw on the ground.

“Is this for me?” Frenzied Sword asked in disbelief.

Han Xiao smiled and nodded.

Frenzied Sword was overjoyed and could not help but start playing with his two pistols. He did not expect to receive such welfare. Han Xiao actually gifted him some equipment. Bun-hit-dog, who was standing by one side, was also shocked

Is this a benefit of the secret quest? As long as your performance is good, Black Phantom will reward you as and when he likes?

Han Xiao intentionally built these two pistols to aid Frenzied Sword in completing more tasks. To ensure that his workers did their best, they first needed their weapons. When giving rewards, Bun-hit-dog could also film it, and when it is aired, more players would witness the scene. Through that, many people would think that Han Xiao cared a lot about rewards and would be more eager to join his ‘Secret Quest’.

All Han Xiao had to do was gift pistols that he could make easily, and with a little bit of generosity, he would be able to earn even more.

“I think you have great potential in wrestling, you should go learn some close combat skills,” Han Xiao mentioned. Frenzied Sword was gifted in wrestling and should advance to become a Mechanical Pugilist. He naturally hoped that Frenzied Sword could be strong like his previous life, where as a Mechanical Pugilist, he displayed his Martial Artist talent… hopefully.

What Han Xiao said struck a chord with Frenzied Sword. That was something that he was thinking about too.

After making his instructions clear, Han Xiao boarded the Dark Net helicopter and left Black Pine.

“Black Phantom has left,” the helper reported to Lu Cheng.

Lu Cheng nodded as he had a great impression of Han Xiao. He then said, “Take care of his two friends, and take notice of any weird villagers from Green Valley Ville. Find out about their background too.

…

When the helicopter arrived at the Fabian Company, Han Xiao board on the transport aircraft and headed for a new novice village in the Southern Continent. This time round, he would be occupying the aircraft for a long time as he even wanted to fly across the ocean to the novice villages in the Western Continent and Northern Continent. The Fabian Company did not have much power in the other two continents. As such, it would be expensive to occupy the aircraft for such a long time. Even after a friendship discount from Antonio, the price could still be jaw dropping—plain extortion.

His Dark Net’s account still had enough funds, and he had a lot of plans to accumulate more wealth. There was no need for him to worry about the funds.

Once he boarded the aircraft, Han Xiao began building his Mecha. The advantage of building his own mecha was that the different modules could be fixed separately and then combined together afterwards. This would reduce the risk, and the success rate for a self-created Mecha would be higher.

Even though he did not have the blueprints, he had his own ideas. The different functions of the self-created Mecha could be achieved just by mimicking the other Mechas from his memories. [Python Lightweight Mecha] was an advanced, more accurate, and rare piece of equipment. If anyone wished to obtain this blueprint in normal circumstances, one would need to combine four advance knowledges of different groups. Moreover, the conditions were extremely demanding. The prerequisite was that one needed to understand the functions of the various components inside the blueprints. So, all most players could do was try their luck.

Some other blueprints required the players to be able to understand the modules within the blueprints. This was common for blueprints of various robots, Mechas, armor, and transport vehicles.

Hopefully what I replicated is forty percent accurate—that will be enough.

Han Xiao’s advanced knowledge was insufficient; hence, he could only create a prototype with less functionality, just like the Ghost sniper rifle. However, there was an advantage for the mecha. Even if his version was a castrated version, it would not have various defects that the Ghost sniper rifle had.

Self-creating a mecha was a huge project and could not be completed within a short time. Han Xiao planned to finish his work on the various modules as he moved from novice village to novice village.

In addition, he would have to combine some new blueprints to improve the power of mecha.

The core source of the power would come from the ‘Bonfire’ Mini Reaction Furnace, and Han Xiao needed to wait for Lei Zhen Yu to place an order for him. This was also an advanced machine, so he was not able to build it on his own. Luckily, he had met another mechanic and could use some help from the other masters.

Talking about it, Old Man Lu’s four blueprints were also rare items. The opportunity for the mission would be when Lei Zhen Yu left Black Pine. Hence, he had to wait a while longer. Those four blueprints could be combined to build an attack and defense system, which could be incorporated into the mecha.

The mecha was Han Xiao’s second important piece of tactical equipment, and with the four blueprints from Old Man Lu, he would be able to start on the third. Han Xiao was excited. With three pieces of tactical equipment that complemented one another, all of which would have very strong mechanical stats, there would be no need to worry in battle—even against Bennett.

After finishing the visits to the novice villages and obtaining large amounts of experience, I can finally do some big things.

Han Xiao calculated his time and suddenly frowned.

If I’m not remembering incorrectly, the Alien event should be starting soon.

…

The Southern Continent had five novice villages. Besides Big Horn Village and Green Valley Ville, Han Xiao spent eleven days visiting the other three. Most of his time was spent on travelling. When he arrived at each novice village, he need not do anything; players would quickly crowd around him. Those who wanted to advance would advance, and those who had their own things to do would engage in their own things. It was super effective.

His popularity was all thanks to Galaxy Times and the advertising through the forum. Han Xiao had left a deep impression on the players, and they knew what he was capable of.

Han Xiao did some math—round 25% to 30% of players came to him to advance into mechanics. This ratio was way greater than that in his previous life. Even though there were only three main classes in Aquamarine, the ratio was not even. In his previous life, the ratio had been 30% Esper, 50% to 60% Pugilist, and only about 10% Mechanic. After Han Xiao’s promotion, the ratio was three times greater!

Apart from Basic Knowledges, he also shared [Basic Shooting] and [Basic Combat]. These basic skills had attracted many novice players, and most had approached him to acquire these two basic skills. That was the real money tree!

Han Xiao was making a small profit from each novice player, and these small gains accumulated to a veritable fortune.

Three novice villages had earned him a total of 9.023 million Experience!

The efficiency was shocking!

With these eleven days of gaining experience at a rocket-like efficiency, he had earned an amount comparable to completing ten or so high difficulty missions! Players of the same level from his previous life would have needed to to spend many months to acquire the same amount of experience!

The cumulative effect from the interface and the NPC template helped him improve tremendously. Well, at least he had found himself a steady channel for experience.

The player market had the most potential, and since he was able to monopolize it at the moment, the profit was simply amazing.

With countless experiences on hand, Han Xiao went ahead to level up his class rank [Mechanic (Trainee)] to Level 15!

When his level reached LV 55, he would need to advance in order to continue levelling up. In version 1, the level limit was LV 60, so he was five levels away. However, he was not restricted by the limit in this version. Han Xiao could in fact become the first character in Aquamarine to reach LV 60. Unfortunately, the advancement requirements were a real headache for him.

_____________________

[Mechanic (Trainee)] levelled up to Level 15 (MAX).

+120 Energy, +1 Dexterity, +1 Endurance, +4 Intelligence.

Acquired 3 Unassigned Stat Points and 1 Talent Point!

Advancement mission: Create 5 [Admirable] quality machinery with an energy rating no lower than 60.

_____________________

Damn, am I so unlucky? Out of so many advancing conditions, how unlucky am I to get the most troublesome one‽

Han Xiao was stunned.

Admirable quality meant a grade higher than blue. Since he started building his machinery, his machinery was about 15% to 20% blue, and only 1% to 2% of his machinery might have reached purple.

A machine could be compared with the same type of machinery by its quality. For instance, there would be a huge difference in the stats of a white grade Foldable Machete compared to a blue grade Foldable Machete. The blue grade would have additional effects too. However, a blue type Machete could not be compared to a white grade Rover Robot.

For example, Cold Weapons, Guns, Grenades, Robots… these weapons were based on templates of the same kind. For example, a good quality razor could be used to shave comfortably; however, it could not be used to stir fry vegetables. Different kinds of equipment have their own uses and their own specialization.

The more high-end a machine was, the harder it would be to improve its quality. The intelligence stat affected the quality, and this was also the core attribute of mechanics. High-level mechanics could easily create high-quality, simple machines.

The requirement of ‘energy rating no lower than 60’ for advancement limited the possibility of him using low-level machinery as a shortcut. He had to create a purple machine that fulfilled the quality requirement.

This type of advancement requirement was considered the most difficult requirement. Normally, when one reached the level limit of an attribute, it would not be easy to build a stable machine of sufficient quality. It was either by luck or by improving his skills and achieving new abilities. No matter which route he took, he would need a lot of time.

The frown between Han Xiao’s brows deepened like a great ravine.

Advancement was difficult. Moreover, he would need to use his experience points to level up his skills and fuse blueprints together. This could be a bottomless pit, especially for fusing the blueprints.

Levelling up by five levels had cost him almost five million Experience. As for the remaining Experience, Han Xiao kept two million for blueprints fusion and the rest on levelling up his skills. He levelled up [Mid-Grade Machinery Affinity] and [Molecular Refining] to the maximum.

Among the skills, Mid-Grade Machinery Affinity was a core skill; hence, the cost was higher. The effect was also naturally more remarkable. Since it affected a machine’s grade, it was useful in completing the advancement task.

Experience come easily but goes quickly too.

Han Xiao let out a deep sigh. As he had spent a huge amount of experiences all at once, he felt a great sense of satisfaction.

Han Xiao had completed his visits to all the novice villages in the Southern Continent. Next, Han Xiao decided to visit the Western Continent. The Nations in the Western Continent were Maple and Ordina. He had stayed in the Southern Continent for too long, and he was finally visiting another continent.

On the way, I can also start on the secret quest. The tragedy of La Potter is set in the Western Continent.

…

Because there was a need to cross the sea, the transport aircraft stopped at one of Hesla port cities’ airports to prepare for the long-distance flight and top up the fuel. This was Antonio’s territory. Han Xiao spent a huge sum of money, almost emptying Antonio’s warehouse, and filled up his aircraft with a lot of materials.

“You are going to the Western Continent?” Antonio held a thick black cigar in his mouth. With his bear paw sized hand, he patted Han Xiao on his shoulder. “A person like you—an assassin—will definitely be blacklisted by many nations. The special agents of Maple and Ordina might find you for afternoon tea. You will have no say over there too. Our power in the Western Continent is limited as well. A piece of advice for you: try not to expose yourself.”

“And so?”

“Be careful.”

Han Xiao laughed and exclaimed in feigned surprise, “Oh, you can actually finish that in one sentence.”

Han Xiao patted Antonio’s strong arm and went up the aircraft. “Don’t worry, I won’t go crazy there.”

Filled with fuel, the aircraft took flight and disappeared into the air.

…

As Han Xiao visited all the novice villages in the Southern Continent, it created a huge discussion on the forum. The novice players from the other three continents were all envious and jealous of the players from the Southern Continent. They wished to meet the Black Phantom, too; however, it was not possible for them to cross over to another continent. As such, they could only watch helplessly as players from the Southern Continents boasted about it on the forum. This made them feel terrible, just like seeing photos of fast food in the middle of the night. Even if you were hungry, you could not eat it.

There was no point being envious, so all the helpless players could do was vent their emotions on the forum.

“Ah, I want Black Phantom!”

“I am suffering from a disease. I will die if I don’t meet Black Phantom.”

“Why are there no characters like Black Phantom in the continent that I got into?”

Players from the Southern Continent started giggling as they thought they were fortunate to have a great birthplace. Looking at players from the other continents grumbling about their lack of luck, the players in the Southern Continent felt a sense of superiority.

Man, luck is also part of power. Not that I’m targeting anyone, but I mean everyone here is trash.

By this point, the players from the Southern Continent all had inflated egos.

“The Black Phantom had gone to the Western Continent? Why is he there?” Bennett was shocked.

“I don’t know. He didn’t say.” Wang Yuan shook his head.

Bennett had no choice but to give Han Xiao a call. He did not answer. As Han Xiao was flying across the ocean, the reception on his phone was bad.

Helpless, Bennett shook his head. Stardragon’s material aid had arrived, and Hesla had loosened a little after some work. The shelter plan was about to be rolled out as a pilot project in the Southern Continent. He was planning to gather the strongest members of various organizations as the first layer of protection for the plan. Black Phantom was third on the list of people he was going to invite. However, before he could even invite him, Han Xiao had already left for the Western Continent.

The location of the first shelter had already been decided. It would be located in a large ruined city in the wild.

Bennett suddenly had an idea. “Maple refused to provide material aid, and that group of bureaucrats are not easing up no matter what we do. Luckily, Black Phantom is going to the Western Continent, so he can talk for me!”

…

The enclosed room did not seem to have a single light source and was separated from the outside world by a thick metal door. Through the darkness, there was only a streak of light peeking through a small opening. Electrolux was sitting in a corner, reading his interface in exasperation. His Esper potential rating was Grade A. However, after over 20 days of open beta, when most players had reached LV 8, he was still at LV 1.

The Germinal Organization said they would lock him up for a month, and they meant it. If it was not that Electrolux was reluctant to give up on his high potential Esper ability, he would have changed to a new account. After the members of the club learned of the situation of his account, they had all been very concerned. They told Electrolux to hold on, and they would invest resources into him when the restriction period was over. With that, he was able to persevere and come online every day to wait, hoping for a miracle.

At that moment, the golden metal door started opening slowly, and white light sprayed into the room.

Electrolux looked up and saw a man in white standing by the door. The man’s stared at Electrolux as though he was looking at something precious.

“I want to perform a little test with you.” A man in white smiled freakishly.

…

Cyberlos was joyous.

He was one of the top executives in the Germinal Organization. As a biologist, he had worked on various experiments for Germinal for many years. Before joining them, Cyberlos was a high-level researcher who betrayed Raylen. He was insane, and his mind was always full of crazy ideas. Even as a fellow human, it was impossible to stop his strong urge to dissect other human bodies. He also did not care about principles and would join anyone who was willing to aid him with resources. In the end, he joined the Germinal Organization.

As such, Germinal supported Cyberlos to experiment on his crazy ideas by sponsoring him with materials. He was responsible for Valkyrie, Super Soldier, and Genetic Improvement—all those projects that were totally unethical. There were even other more sinister experiments, and just by mentioning the names, it would make a normal person disgusted and the insane excited. For instance, Cross-Species Hybrid Breeding, Human-Animal Fusion…

Through years of research, Cyberlos had conducted over a hundred experiments and seen thousands of special and gifted human specimens. Among which, Cyberlos was excited about two of these specimens, and both were Espers.

One of them had bone marrow that had amazing healing functions. It could even revive thousands of dead bodies. However, since the souls were absent in these bodies, the bodies would not truly be revived. That was also the first time when Cyberlos discovered the notion of souls. He experimented more, but due to the lack of technology on Aquamarine, he was unable to gather any souls.

The other person had some power that could interfere with destiny. It was also the most incredible thing that Cyberlos had ever witnessed. This person could interfere with the course of an event just by commenting. It was something even more difficult to explain as compared to souls. This special ability could only be used when a person was clear and awake. A test proved that it could not work with hypnotism. This person was locked up around the clock and was made to wear a muzzle, which prevented him from talking. Due to negligence in the past, many scary incidents had occurred, and the most recent incident happened a year ago, when this person commented that a disaster would happen to the Germinal. With that being said, the Germinal Organization had indeed suffered a painful blow.

As for Electrolux, he was the third specimen that Cyberlos was interested in.

Cyberlos re-read and scrutinized the diary.

“Day 1: The subject was sent into the restricted room, monitored around the clock, including using night vision camera monitoring. Fed three times a day at 7am, 11am, and 7pm with no relaxation time given. Subject seemed anxious but has yet to show any after effects from the brainwashing session. Initial observation shows that subject has immunity. Recommended to perform Compliance Test on the subject.

“Day 2: 8am, went through the Compliance Test. Results shown that subject is highly obedient. Passed all the test, and the polygraph does not exhibit any abnormalities. Subject has accepted the new identity from the brainwashing. 11pm, abnormality started showing. Subject has vanished, and no signs of damage were observed in the restricted room. A search was conducted, subject not found.

“Day 4: Subject reappeared in the restricted room, the same location where he disappeared, with no warning. Footage data [Appendix -001]. We controlled the subject immediately and interrogated about the reason behind his disappearance and what he encountered after he disappeared. Subjected seemed confused, and the interrogation was recorded in [Appendix -002]. Increased the monitoring on the subject.

“Day 6: Used hypnotism to check if he was lying, and the subject spoke gibberish. Footage [Appendix -003]. At night, subject vanished again.

“Day 8: Subject reappeared. Interrogated and hypnotized, details [Appendix -004]. At 8pm, surgery was performed to observe the biology, and his physiology seemed normal. Surgery conclusion [Appendix -005].”

…

The observation diary contained observations from 22 days. Some of the vagrants in the Andrea Mainland also appeared to have similar symptoms as Electrolux. As such, this caught the attention of Germinal. They remained quiet and continued to observe secretly.

Immortal, able to resurrect, appear out of nowhere, unknown origin… If it was just one person, there was no reason to worry. However, thousands of people had shown the same symptoms, and this number was still increasing, as though it was spreading like an infectious disease. The leader was concerned and made Cyberlos in charge of conducting various experiments on Electrolux.

Electrolux was pinned down in the middle by the guards and was brought to the surgery theatre. Lying down on the surgery table, he was given the surgery task. The Germinal Organization had brainwashed him. As such, he thought all orders given were compulsory missions and violation would lead to heavy punishments.

Electrolux could only adhere to the instructions, and he was feeling frustrated.

Cyberlos suited up into his surgical gown and started dissecting Electrolux. Electrolux was given anesthesia and was unable to move. All he could do was watch the knife moving about on his body. As he realized he was being dissected, his body system started reacting when the operation started.

_____________________

You died.

_____________________

Electrolux was struck dumb, and he was revived in the room after ten seconds.

What in the world… Was I dissected and experimented on?

Electrolux froze. He had lost one revive for that week. However, his Experience did not decrease, and that might have been due to him dying under special circumstances.

This was the first time he had encountered such a situation. In the past, when he was playing other virtual online games, NPCs did not care about any special abilities that players possessed, which caused many people complained about it. Players who were more creative had even thought of dissecting these people to study them. He could not believe this was happening in Galaxy.

Cyberlos witnessed the whole procedure where Electrolux vanished and then reappeared again. It happened in a split second, and the blood stains could still be seen on the operation theatre.

“You… No, what kind of creature are you?” Cyberlos’ eyes lit up.

Electrolux suddenly felt like pulling a prank. What will happen if I tell the truth?

“The world you live in is just a game. I am just a player…”

To his shock, Electrolux realized that anything he tried to say became gibberish. He was unwilling to give up trying, but he realized that if he wanted to reveal any information about the real world, the system would change his words.

Cyberlos shook his head. “It is the same as the hypnosis record, all nonsense.”

Electrolux was shocked to find out that NPC could tell the uniqueness of a player. This must have been coded by the developer in an attempt to simulate more realistic characters.

It’s so real. Electrolux was shocked. It made him felt as if the NPC was a real person. Galaxy is such a realistic game.

He finally understood the name for Galaxy 1.0 edition. The developer wanted to allow the players to become Adventers, to be the first people to experience another realistic world. Therefore, they did not allow the players to reveal truths of the reality in case they ruined the realistic feeling. He then remembered an old online game. There were also two camps of players, and the players from different camps were not allowed to communicate. It seemed to be called the world of the beast.

“It must be like that!” Electrolux exclaimed.

Even if he knew that the reactions that NPCs gave to the players were simulated, he was very impressed. Aside from his responsibilities as a professional player, Electrolux had formed great interest in Galaxy. He was even anticipating what would happen next. There would be more and more players, how would these NPCs react?

The guards brought Electrolux back, and Cyberlos stayed in the laboratory and collected blood traces on the operating table. The results of the test were so different from ordinary people, causing his eyes to flicker with curiosity.

“Let’s say this occurrence is the appearance of an alien phenomenon. But why is this phenomenon occurring here, and why has it spread? Most of the aliens appear out of thin air, and there are no database records, unless there is a birth of a new civilization? Could there be a projection from another intelligent species?”

Cyberlos turned on his computer and brought up a highly confidential file. He verified using his fingerprint, his iris, and a password, which was changed on a daily basis, before opening a document—The Universal Treaty (7th revised edition). Aquamarine came into contact with the Kedolas civilization and had attained more knowledge. The Germinal Organization had a copy of this treaty as well.

It was stated on the treaty that a projection from a high-level civilization would occasionally interfere with a low-level civilization. The special characteristics of not dying was similar to the description of the projection technique on the treaty. If this was true, this would be the invasion of an advanced civilization. No, for the entity to invade, it would not be so troublesome. A logical explanation would be Aquamarine had become a testing ground for a certain civilization. Cyberlos was not angry at all. In fact, he was very excited by the unexpected phenomenon.

If the number of aliens continued increasing, the pattern of Aquamarine would have a drastic change with this characteristic of not dying.

The aliens can be brainwashed and are very subservient, but when asked about their place of origin, they talk nonsense, and this could be an instinctive reaction for them. This definitely requires more experimental evidence.

The transmission of this alien phenomenon was unknown, and it was impossible to determine if it was contagious or not. The results of the test were normal, and the occurrence for this phenomenon could not be explained—it could be an unique ability, disease, or genetic mutation.

The interesting thing was that no abnormal sleeping habits had been observed. From time to time, the disappearance could be the ‘sleeping mode’ of the aliens. Some aliens had other abilities, their strength was weak, and they seemed to have potential for other unknown reasons.

Is the appearance of aliens long term or short term? Will the numbers continuously increase? Is there a possibility of the beast infecting the aliens? In the long run, there seems to be some danger with this alien phenomenon, and it is necessary to implement some preventive measures as early as possible.

Writing down his conclusion, Cyberlos handed the report over to his leader. His leader’s worldview was also slightly affected, but fortunately, he was determined. Due to a huge variety of Espers around, even the average person was very resilient, so they were used to all kinds of strange phenomenon.

“The Six Nations will notice the aliens sooner or later. With this phenomenon occurring, the fact that they are our enemy is not as important. They will definitely contact the interstellar civilization to ask for the reasons of this occurrence and will have no time to set off a war. Which means, we’ll have time to breathe.”

The leader was very curious about the appearance of aliens, but he was unable to contact the interstellar civilization. However, he noticed an important problem—the aliens could actually be brainwashed, and they were very obedient!

Thus, he reached the natural conclusion.

“They are natural cannon fodder!”

Andrea mainland was the territory of the Germinal Organization, and the leader ordered people to bring back research specimens to brainwash. There were also aliens appearing in the other three continents. It was a pity that the sub-bases had been uprooted, and no one was around to capture them. The leader only realized now that they had lost an opportunity all because of Zero. He was so angry that his teeth ached, and he even wanted to make use of the ‘Son of Destiny’ to lock onto the position of zero, but he had not yet made the decision to take the risk.

I don’t know how the interstellar civilization views this phenomenon, is this rare or common?

…

There were four new novice villages in the Western Continent, and public beta had been open for more than twenty days. The average level of the players had also reached LV 10, so Han Xiao was prepared to include the [Energy Training Technique] into the list of skills. The asking price was 10,000 experience and 3,000 Aquamarine Dollars. Some players were able to afford it.

The plane had landed in Fabian’s main base on the Western Continent, and as the climate of the Western Continent was very cold, Han Xiao felt uncomfortable when he first breathed in the air.

These few days, he created the parts of the python armor using the skeleton formed by the PE-0 Nano-Synthetic Fiber. It looked like thick black tights, and the outer layer was like muscles. Han Xiao tried it on once, and it was light. He had found his physical attributes improved. For example, when throwing a punch, the fibers would stretch and twist in the direction of the punch, increasing the strength of the attack. It was similar to getting a new set of muscles and tendons, but this was more flexible, and the user could do whatever they wanted.

In the debugging stage, it was necessary to prevent the loss of power with other materials. Han Xiao had spent quite a bit of experience, using [Advance Materials Science] with other knowledge, to attain certain materials.

The power system was the most critical for the mecha frame. The ‘Bonfire’ Mini Reaction Furnace was another equipment for advancement. The seller seems to be in the Western Continent, so Han Xiao had chosen to come here.

A mecha was a quick way to improve combat power, and as long as he could create the Python-Lightweight Mecha, his combat power could increase by a huge jump.

I’ll go to the novice village and collect some experience first.

Han Xiao marked the location on the map and handed it to the driver. At that instant, his cell phone buzzed. He opened it and turned out to be a message from the Blood Pact Society.

“Black Phantom, this is a reward from the Dark Net. Your mission is to sneak into the residence of a few Maple officials and leave certain documents there. Someone will meet you at the Western Continent and give you the documents you will need, including the specific information of the location and some Maple officials.”

Han Xiao raised an eyebrow and called Bennett. “Hey, what are you up to?”

It was beneficial to know someone on the top as one phone call across could get him information.

“Maple does not want to provide assistance, and it is because these few officials are getting in the way. You know the situation over in Maple—we would be touching the treasury of these officials, so they are fiercely opposing us.”

“What assistance?” Han Xiao raised an eyebrow as he had an inclination.

“I have yet to mention to you, but the organization is planning a large-scale project—shelter. There was originally a year to plan, but as the war is about to start, we can only push forward with the plan and request aid from all the countries. Only Maple has rejected.”

Han Xiao’s eyes lit up. The shelter plan had started early. With his relationship to the Dark Net, he was confident in the plan and asked an obvious question, “What is the shelter plan? Do you need my help?”

“I will tell you the details when you return to the Southern Continent, and yes, I need your help…” Bennett paused. “Stardragon first promised to render their help, and the reason was you taking part in the battle of the Tedramira River. I owe you a favor.”

“Just give me a few small benefits.”

Bennett laughed. “This is exactly what I expected from you, let’s talk more when you return to Southern Continent.”

After ending the phone call, Han Xiao read the reward detail and triggered the mission.

_____________________

You triggered Level C mission [Deterrent intimidation]!

Introduction: Some of Maple’s officials are corrupt, and it is time to let them know that holding on to the money bags will only get them bullets. We are not robbers, but we do not mind occasional guest appearances.

Mission Requirements: Enter the residence of five targeted officials and the evidence of the Dark Net.

Rewards: 120,000 experience, 500 Dark Net reputation

_____________________

Without the special reward, it is just an ordinary task. I’ll just get it done and over with. Han Xiao nodded.

The transport plane took off with Han Xiao after a refueling. A few hours later, they arrived in a new novice village. It was not easy to find the airport in the wilderness. However, as the gyroscopic engines were equipped on the wings of the transport aircraft to provide vertical lifting power, it was safe for the plane to take off on the runway. The pilot was a veteran as well.

If Han Xiao did not have the discounts as an old customer, the price of chartering flights would have been several times more expensive. This connection was very important as it saved him a lot of money.

After using the Electromagnetic Hover-boots for a while after he alighted from the plane, Han Xiao soon reached the novice village. The players there were doing their missions passionately, and upon seeing the Black Phantom, they were stunned and gushed toward him.

…

Poseidon, a member of the Guild of Gods, hummed a song as he scanned through the forum posts. President Jupiter did not bother too much about the Rank A mission, and the development of the guild was on the right track.

In the second issue of Galaxy Times, the group had invited a beautiful e-sports player, the head of the rainstorm club, Rainy Kim. She shared her experience on the show and introduced Stardragon.

She had joined the Tedramira River Battle, so she revealed some information, including news of the Germinal Organization. After Jupiter learned that the Germinal troops from the Southern Continent had disappeared, he lost hope for the A-rank mission. Dark Crow Valley Base had also been removed; thus, he concentrated on coordinating the guild and expanded toward Southern Continent’s side.

In the second episode of Galaxy Times, professional players from different planets were invited for an interview, and these players had joined different camps on the map, allowing the players to attain more knowledge of the different planets. The conflict between the Six Nations and the Germinal Organization revealed the main plot to the players of Aquamarine.

Since the start, Poseidon had never approved of the Germinal A-rank mission; he felt that it would distract the group. Fortunately, Jupiter turned his back and gave up on the A level mission. In turn, the professional guild saw this mission and allowed the players to challenge this difficult task, thus handing over the task to the team.

After the discussion, they selected a player from Andrea Mainland to find the Germinal Organization and trigger the A-rank mission. The guild also provided resources and intelligence support to help the player complete the task. If anyone succeeded, the guild could have one more potential account, and there no losses even if they do not succeed.

The players were the face of the guild, and their status was higher than that of the guild. The first-line player was also famous as Poseidon asked him for a few signatures, which made him very happy.

The guild was pleased with the A-rank mission they triggered during the novice period and gave away some prizes.

The guild had passed the unlucky period, and Poseidon was in a good mood.

Speaking of the development of the guild, the Black Phantom could not go unmentioned. Since most of them were born in the Southern Continent, with the support of the Black Phantom, they benefited in one way or another. The Black Phantom only appeared in the Southern Continent, which gave the players a huge advantage, and the guild benefited a lot.

Many opponents were born in other continents, and with the guild in front, the situation was very good.

Looking at the jealousy and envy that the old player had, the members of the guild had a sense of superiority.

Suddenly, the forum started having lots of new posts published by Aquamarine. The content could be summarized in one sentence.

“Black Phantom is coming to the Western Continent!”

Poseidon snorted and hurriedly clicked and viewed a post. After reading it, he began sweating.

Don’t tell me Black Phantom is running around every single Novice Village.

If this was to be true, everyone simply had to wait patiently, and the advantages of being in a guild would vanish.

Poseidon hurriedly informed the president and other core members in the channel. They were equally shocked.

Jupiter was extremely calm. “We can’t say things like that. We learned some skills earlier than others and were able to finish quests much earlier. There are bound to be some advantages for joining us. NPC’s actions can’t be controlled. Don’t try to force things.”

Upon hearing what the president had said, everyone calmed down. Poseidon glanced at the forum again and suddenly screamed, “What the… come look at this post!”

“What?” Jupiter doubted the post. It was a screenshot of Han Xiao’s skill list, and the focus was on an [Energy Training Method]. Seeing the skill’s effect, everyone was stunned.

“Magical!”

Energy was a key attribute. It directly affected combat strength. And with the novice players’ energy being so poor, they were usually unable to support an Esper’s consumption. Espers needed this skill for sure!

Jupiter was an Esper. He turned jealous and suddenly realized a serious problem. “Wait a moment. When we were in the Southern Continent, Black Phantom did not teach us this skill!”

Everyone stood silent.

Could it have been that when the Black Phantom was going to the Novice Village, he would give better things to them? In that case, wouldn’t players in the Southern Continent be disadvantaged?

This isn’t advantageous at all! It’s way more unlucky!

Among the core members of Guild of Gods, there was a player named Eggtama.

This unlucky feeling… Why is it so familiar…? It’s returning! Everything is returning!

…

On the forum, Western Continent players were as if they were dogs that had eaten Spring medicine, jumping up and down, posting their videos, and showing off. They, who had been always on Southern Continent for so long, finally had something to show off. It was now the Southern Continent’s players’ turn to suffer. What they originally thought was exclusively theirs was actually given to everyone.

In particular, seeing the new skills taught by Black Phantom, the [Energy Training Method], the Western Continent players were extremely overjoyed and made the Southern Continent players very tired and uncomfortable.

What goes around comes around, and it was time for the players on the Southern Continent to watch in jealousy.

“Such luck, why didn’t Black Phantom have this skill before?”

“I want to learn it so much.”

“Isn’t he a mechanic instructor? He has such awesome skills! Even though I’m an Esper, I’m tempted, too!”

Beyond the posts that were either showing off or complaining, Black Phantom appeared in the Western Continent, and this had gotten all the players to start guessing. He seemed to aim to go through all the novice villages. Could Black Phantom actually have been the official novice guide? But other novice planets did not have one. The guesses were endless. Furthermore, there were players from other novice planets coming over to Aquamarine’s forum to complain of unfairness. The novice guide broke the levelled playing field for many, but their voices would soon be overwhelmed by the everyone else.

Players from the Northern Continent and Andrea were the ones that greatly supported this statement. Looking at the movements of Black Phantom, they could very well be the next one, and they could not wait to bring themselves in front to the Black Phantom.

Do you see the huge anticipation in these small eyes of ours? Come on, hurry!

The Western Continent’s players were almost celebrating like it was a festival; some of them who were about to leave the novice village to explore the map immediately reverted back to where they were upon hearing the news of Black Phantom. They hurriedly returned to their villages, waiting for the Black Phantom’s arrival in great excitement.

[Energy Training Method] became a craze. Not only were some players wanting to change class, even Esper came to learn the skill. While the asking price was very high, this magical skill was worth selling one’s every asset for!

Esper players desperately needed to increase their Energy, and to them, the [Energy Training Method] was like a Viagra pill. It allowed them to last much longer, and the difference was between that of a three minute and three second gap. Whilst short, the concept was totally different. This was the difference between one and many, between Heaven and Earth!

Han Xiao had already foreseen this type of situation; in the first advancement, everyone would learn [Energy Training Technique]. However, the players were unaware that for players at LV 8 or 9, this was a magical skill. The added strength exceeded whatever the player received for their upgrade. Also, some players did not advance in their main class; hence, they would need a skill that provided energy even more.

Aquamarine was the main planet for all the Chinese players. Han Xiao imparted a skill that all players were bound to learn, and while it might seem like he was scamming the players, that was not the case. It was important to note that obtaining a slight advantage in the early stages would enable one to snowball and grow stronger.

In other words, Han Xiao allowed the LV 10 players to acquire the skills that were only available at LV 20. This way, his actions were equivalent to a win-win situation.

Not only did he earn extraordinary amounts of Experience, he also enabled the Chinese players to gain an advantage over other planets’ players.

Perfect.

Han Xiao was pleased with his plan. Why would he scam the players? All those perceptions were people’s prejudices and misunderstandings toward him. He really loved his motherland; thinking back to the past when his father almost named him Patriotic Xiao, but under the authority of the tigress in the house, his father changed to his current name, Han Xiao.

[Energy Training Technique] required 10,000 Experience to learn, and the thought of the potential profits made his heart beat wildly. Only when the players advance for the first time would he then be able to impart [Energy Training Technique] and reap the profits. This was kind of a reckless deal; he would take whatever he could. Looking at the player’s degree of enthusiasm, Han Xiao felt that the Experience he received in Version 1.0 would be an astronomical number.

While he was busy with the Western Continent novice village, Bun-hit-dog finally released the first episode in the forum.

Galaxy’s Exploration Journal: Black Phantom (1)

…

Bun-hit-dog had a bit of a reputation, and the moment the video was released, his die-hard fans and curious passersby immediately clicked into it.

“Finally, this should be spicy!”

“A surprise release!”

“The subject is Black Phantom. Is Bun-hit-dog on his team now?”

The program was released in the forum’s video section. The forum was not for tasteless gossiping only—it had other functions. In order to allow the players to pass the time while playing the game, the video traffic was huge, and with the addition of old viewers watching, the number of viewers increased quite a lot.

The opening titles consisted of the promo edit and some screenshots of the scenery before the video began. The first thing that appeared was the third person’s perspective of Bun-hit-dog. This was the game’s pre-installed viewing function, which could also be used to examine the exterior. The background was Black Pine Settlement. Bun-hit-dog waved in the direction of the camera, and his opening line was a soliloquy.

“The everlasting world produced Yin and Yang, the Yin and Yang that comes of all living things. The country’s benefits are at the cost of my life, and every moment of spring is precious. Welcome to Galaxy’s Exploration Journal, I am Bun-hit-dog.”

The barrage was filled with ridicule.

“What is this dumb soliloquy‽”

“I read a line of the poem at that time, if…”

“How confident I am in unifying my country is just like how the sun rises from the East, divine toad requires a thousand years to learn!”

Bun-hit-dog continued in the show. “There hasn’t been a new upload in a long time. Being the first episode of the Galaxy series, I’ll video a character’s perspective and let everyone have a taste of my expedition. This character left a lot of impressions on the players—Mechanic Master, Novice Leader, Mysterious NPC, Secret Quest. Presumably, the audience in front of the screen is curious about the identity of this character. That’s right, he is the person in the title—Black Phantom!”

“Wow, awkward talking time, I salute you!”

“Finally…”

“That’s what we came for!”

The lens switched over to show Bun-hit-dog’s perspective. The official content began now.

The video content consisted of clips recorded by Bun-hit-dog, and it became different segments after rounds of editing. The special effects and the narration were then added on later. Bun-hit-dog used a humorous style, explaining the first encounter with Han Xiao where Han Xiao resisted a pack of wolves in Green Valley Ville and stopped the confrontation between two warlords. Bun-hit-dog showed the first person’s point of view while the narration began to analyze Han Xiao’s influence.

“In one sentence, Black Phantom exhibited his influence by moving the two warlords away with just his words. Before I begin with the analysis, I would like to introduce the identities of the two warlords…” The scene changed and arrived at Black Pine Settlement. Bun-hit-dog introduced Lu Cheng, who was the leader of this large-scale settlement. He possessed a huge army and tons of war chariots. Then, the topic changed.

“Lu Cheng possesses such great power, yet he was afraid of Black Phantom. Then, where exactly did Black Phantom’s influence originate from? Listen carefully to what I, Brother Bun, have to say.” He used Lu Cheng as bait to further the intrigue the audience had toward Black Phantom. The results were outstanding.

Frenzied Sword acted as an esteemed guest and appeared on this show. He analyzed Han Xiao’s identity in their conversation and slowly touched the tip of the iceberg of Han Xiao’s mysterious origins.

First, both revealed Black Phantom’s name, which seemed to be Han Xiao. Initially, in Stardragon Intelligence Agency, this was information that no one knew of, and in a flash, it captured everyone’s attention. The barrage became very sparse, and everyone was reading the content seriously.

Frenzied Sword had sucked up to Han Xiao during the beta-testing, but he was unaware of Han Xiao’s real identity. He only understood that Black Phantom belonged to Six Nations’ side. However, due to some reason, Black Phantom left Stardragon and joined the two organizations, the Dark Net and the Blood Pact Society. This information came from the [Extremely Fatal] powerful enemy—Liu Cheng. Even though he did not know the particulars of these two powers, he knew that they were huge backers, and they belonged to the high-ranking powers that players were unable to interact with currently. They were also among Black Phantom’s origin.

Bun-hit-dog and Frenzied Sword also thought that the crucial reason that people were afraid of Black Phantom was because of his capability. With the players’ current rank, they were unable to see the high-ranking characters’ exact stats. However, they had witnessed Han Xiao killing other [Extremely Fatal] NPCs more than once, and based on that, they felt among the NPCs, Black Phantom’s capabilities were at the peak!

Becoming enemies with Germinal was Black Phantom’s current biggest displayed goal. Due to the lack of clues, they were unable to understand the reason behind Black Phantom and Germinal’s conflict. Frenzied Sword actually divulged the situation of the beta-testing. From beta-testing to public-testing, the game went through more than three months, and Han Xiao had taken on a new persona and become Black Phantom. The moment this information was released, it immediately evoked the audience’s curiosity.

What exactly did he experience that made him the Black Phantom today?

Everything was just assumptions without evidence. The show was unclear, and Bun-hit-dog’s real intention was to toss out this question to act as the show’s hook to attract the audience’s curiosity.

Continuing on, Bun-hit-dog and Frenzied Sword discussed the Black Phantom’s actions of scouring novice villages and agreed that this was decisive evidence that Black Phantom was a novice leader. After twenty or so days of amusement, the players realized that the NPC’s actions and thoughts were very ‘real’, and Black Phantom would shock players consistently. For what reason would the Black Phantom interact with the players frequently and also involve himself in obvious plans? There had to be a reason, yet the show only mentioned it in passing.

Bun-hit-dog expressed that both he and Frenzied Sword had triggered Black Phantom’s secret quest, proving that he was able to shadow and report on Black Phantom. Also, he conveniently introduced all kinds of material benefits that they had received from Black Phantom, showing the scene where Han Xiao gifted Frenzied Sword two high quality firearms. They also followed Black Phantom and arrived at Black Pine, a map that was higher-ranked than a novice village and would issue missions with generous rewards.

The barrage was full of the material benefits being flaunted and the audience envied them to no end. Those who were able to trigger Black Phantom’s secret quests were the luckiest people!

“To hell with you, bastard!”

“Sigh…”

“I heard that holding your breath allows you to take in some of that luck. I…”

During the show’s ending, Bun-hit-dog said, “Black Phantom’s series currently only has one episode. The next episode might be of other content. After all, Frenzied Sword and I have been left behind in Black Pine. However, you don’t have to worry. I’ll continue to pursue and explore Black Phantom’s past life. Until then, I’ll see all you Dog Viewers in the next episode!”

The audience, who finished the episode in one breath, had just one thought.

Exciting!

The scene was Bun-hit-dog’s first-person perspective of exploring while the side explanation cut into Black Phantom’s angle, which introduced a lot of information that ordinary people were unclear of. It tossed out a lot of the world’s background and knowledge, and this answered many perplexing problems.

Furthermore, the style was relaxed, and the content was mind-blowing. It provided all kinds of interesting assumptions, and the audience was fully satisfied. They went on to recommend it on other forums, allowing more players to join in.

The subject matter of Bun-hit-dog’s first episode was well-chosen. Coincidentally, it was when Han Xiao visited the Western Continent and allowed everyone to know of his existence. It was a hot topic; Bun-hit-dog’s video became extremely popular, and the viewer count surged.

The first episode went completely viral!

Bun-hit-dog was pleasantly surprised. His choice of this episode’s subject proved to be a correct decision.

The video became popular because of Han Xiao’s popularity, and not only that, it added greatly to Han Xiao’s reputation.

Everyone’s impression of Han Xiao in their hearts gradually moved from a Mysterious Merchant and Skills Trainer to an influential NPC. Guessing his origin gradually became an everyday topic.

Other than the reconciliation of interests, some players had another mindset toward NPCs, which was admiration and adherence. This mindset came from the love toward a certain character, the popularity of the character, or players being fascinated by what the character had been through, which formed a group of fans for these NPCs. The classic examples of these are ‘Dragonborn’, ‘Chloe von Einzbern’, ‘Medivh’, ‘One Punch Man’, ‘Kratos’, etc.

By gaining admiration and love from players, the players might behave in a biased way toward the characters when making certain decisions, such as refusing to accept missions from the enemy camp or following popular NPCs to war. Ladies, weirdos, and overly powerful characters had congenital advantages in such things—Han Xiao was confident in that.

However, without real benefits, this kind of relationship based solely on admiration would not have any real meaning. To have players fight for him, perks and benefits were a crucial requirement. He knows how the players behaved; they might help out an NPC out of enjoyment, but only for a short period and would leave sooner or later if the player did not get any benefits from it.

Luckily, his plan consisted of both benefits and popularity, killing two birds with one stone.

Han Xiao has also watched Bun-hit-dog’s video, which was exactly what he had hoped for—to gain the curiosity and interest of players by sending out a video with some clues in it.

The information flow between players and NPCs was restricted; they both had a different set of intelligence at hand, so leaking out his real name was not an issue.

The Germinal Organization knew that he was Zero and might even know the original name of his body, Han Xiao, but they did not know he was Black Phantom and Han Xiao

Stardragon knew that he was Han Xiao and Zero, but they were not sure if he was Black Phantom.

Players knew that he was Black Phantom, his name was Han Xiao, and he served the Stardragon before, but they did not know he was Zero.

Oh, players have yet to receive any information on ‘Zero’.

Dark Net only knew him as Black Phantom.

Every organization only had a fraction of the information, and if his true identity was exposed one day, he would just have to change his face, and nothing would happen. He could even increase his legendary level by the time he was strong enough and choose to reveal all his identities.

Since the official launch, Han Xiao’s name had always been on the top of the Planet Aquamarine forums, which made him quite well known. Just like celebrities, the more people that knew him, the easier it was for him to strengthen his impression on people.

The situation was going great for him, from what he had done and the help of various videos, his popularity was continually growing at a fast pace. But Han Xiao always has the habit of planning ahead. He had already started to feel an imaginary ceiling on the path of his increasing popularity.

Although the functionality of the game was praised by the players, it lacked interactive storylines, and the only way that could make players actively want to interact with him was through the main storyline. Therefore, Han Xiao decided to take on one of the main storylines from Bennett.

After going to two more novice villages, Han Xiao decided to take some time off so that the players could get some money, and he could have some time for himself to do other stuff. At the top of his ‘to do’ list would be to get the Bonfire Mini Reaction Furnace.

He called Lei Zhenyu to ask where the seller wanted to carry out the deal, and he gave him the seller’s number

“Greetings,” the person on the phone said. It was an electrical generated fake voice, so he could not figure out the age nor the gender—it was very confidential.

“How are we going to carry out the deal?” Han Xiao was very straight to the point.

“In three days. In a moment, I will send you the location. Bring your money, and I will bring the stuff,” the person said.

“Okay, I will get one of my men to carry out the deal,” Han Xiao replied.

Ten seconds after hanging up the call, Han Xiao received a message.

‘Severus, the city near the border of Ordina.’

…

Financial organizations and families were deeply rooted in Ordina, so it was filled with competition and very clear class differentiation, as the country’s policies were focused on the elites. Every city felt grand and solemn, and the regular rainfall created a light fog that made it look gloomy.

It was drizzling in Severus. The weather was damp and bleak, which suited the atmosphere of the city.

In a residential flat that had been made into a surveillance room that was connected to every traffic cam within three streets, a dozen or so men wearing black were busy doing something. Some were checking on the guns, some were looking at the surveillance screens, and some were going through the intelligence.

This was an intelligence action group in Ordina, together with six other action groups, which locked down three more areas nearby.

The agents gathered around to capture an escaped criminal who had stolen classified country intelligence. The target had been on the run for many years, and they had finally found a lead that he would appear in Severus to carry out a deal with a third party.

The intelligence source was trustworthy; it had come directly from the information division. They had hacked into countless phone lines and were able to pick out a few that were suspected of being important calls from the target.

“Continue your surveillance. Snipers get ready; take down the target once he meets the dealer. The higher-ups suspect that the target is dealing with a political finance organization, so we need evidence,” the leader of the mission said through their earpiece. “The target is quite crafty. You’re our last level of insurance Mr. Mag. Please be ready to act at all times.”

“Yes,” he replied in a very cold tone.

Mag was one of Ordina’s aces; his position was similar to Mo Ran’s. The fact that even he had been sent to ensure the completion of the mission showed how important this mission was to Ordina.

…

Airplanes were not allowed to dock at Ordina; therefore, Han Xiao travelled by Electromagnetic Hover-boots for a day after alighting to reach Severus.

Wanderers entering the city formed a long queue at the border of Severus while the soldiers of Ordina were patrolling the area. Their equipment was more refined than that of Stardragon, and their expressions were covered by a tactical mask.

Everyone was silent in the team, with the only sound coming from their food steps.

The deal will be carried out in Severus, Han Xiao thought to himself. He had already changed his clothes and appearance, but his equipment was still with him. He would be looking for a beating if he went in the official way, so he had to be smuggled in.

With enough money and threatening from his gun, the smuggling process was smooth. Just like mankind never being able to kill all cockroaches, there would always be such smugglers no matter how tight security was at the border.

…

Han Xiao’s clothing covered him from head to toe as he had to hide his equipment, and he carried a large backpack with his guns.

Light rain poured on his raincoat, and hiding under the cap was a different face that Han Xiao had changed into. The reminder from Antonio made sense, and he did not want to mess up this deal, so there was no way he would’ve appeared with the face of Black Phantom or his true face.

The location was a cafe at the side of the road, seat seven.

As the buyer, if he did not arrive first, the seller might not even appear. Therefore, he sat at seat seven and looked around the cafe.

The radio was playing slow music, and he could see the fog outside the windows, it was quite soothing. Half of the seats were filled; some were drinking quietly, and the others were looking at the newspaper or their laptop. The arrival of Han Xiao did not attract any attention, and they carried on doing what they were doing.

It was normal and peaceful.

Han Xiao called the server and ordered a cup of coffee while waiting for the seller.

He looked out the floor-to-ceiling window. People who seemed to be rushing home passed by quickly from time to time while carrying their umbrellas, and a few men at the other side of the road were hiding from the rain while playing with their phones. The drizzling rain fell from the ceiling and formed a puddle at the side of the street.

Han Xiao looked normal as he lowered his head to sip his coffee, but he had noticed something unusual.

The guy reading newspaper sitting three seats away is breathing heavily and has a much higher heartbeat rate than normal. The woman drinking coffee at the bar is sweating at the side of her head. The man that passed by the floor-to-ceiling window had a very steady pace but slowed down on purpose for 30% when he passed by the window. The second person from the left hiding from the rain is stamping the floor with the back of his feet, which is a sign of worry and nervousness, Han Xiao thought.

At LV 55, his senses were at a very high level. Through the tiny details of movement and expression of normal people, he was able to figure out their emotional state.

Someone is monitoring the café—seller or third party? Could I be the target? I don’t think I’ve messed with anyone in Ordina…

The interface showed up when he notices the monitors.

_____________________

Mission Introduction: The mysterious seller you’re having a deal with is an outlaw of Ordina. Your deal with him has diverged. Unlucky for you, you’re now also under surveillance, dragged into a storm that does not concern you.

Mission Requirement: Run away from Ordina’s pursuit.

Reward: 65,000 experience

Bonus Reward: Unknown

_____________________

I have been so damn unlucky recently. Han Xiao was upset. All he wanted to do was get the Mini Bonfire Reaction Furnace, but it seemed like he was now involved in a rather serious event. Could things not just be peaceful and easier for him?

The item was very important to Han Xiao; it was the core of mechanical suit. He did not want to give it up just because of a small risk. He was already involved anyways, and even if he left right now, they would still have their eyes on him, so he decided to stay put for the moment and react accordingly.

Mag was a Cannon Master, a second-tier class of the basic Mechanic class with very high damage. The better the weapon was, the greater the advantage they had. This was the first time that Han Xiao had fought a high-level enemy of his own class.

Every meter from a Cannon Master was a wall of obstruction, and the enemy was at the top of the building while Han Xiao was at the ground.

In the blink of an eye, Han Xiao completed the analysis of the situation, the enemy, the nearby terrain, and the escape route.

Cannon Master, level 56, high damage but low HP. I have one chance of dealing explosively high damage, but killing him will not be easy. Their backup will arrive in no time if I’m stalled, and I don’t have enough supplies to deal with an outnumbered fight. I need to use the opportunity created by damaging him to escape, Han Xiao thought.

Blue lights flashed from his shoes, and he slid away.

“Trying to run?” Mag remained expressionless as Han Xiao ran away. He had noticed much earlier that the speed Han Xiao had was from his shoes, so he used his RX-108 assault rifle and shot with high accuracy. He knew that Han Xiao would not be able to escape if his shoes were broken.

However, a piece of magnetically-controlled retractable armor quickly covered the shoes and blocked the bullets.

That was close. Han Xiao was shocked. Luckily, he had been prepared and was able to react in time. Had his shoes been destroyed, the difficulty to escape would have been many times higher. Being attacked and not fighting back was not Han Xiao’s style. Whilst tactically retreating, he fired back at Mag with high accuracy on par with the latter, and three high caliber bullets hit Mag’s chest. Physical fitness was not Mag’s strength, and he could barely handle the power from the bullets. He endured the pain and followed after Han Xiao using his Grappling Hook Gun to move between buildings.

Mag had an advantage of having the high ground, so he used [Explosive Shooting] with his Tiger Claw shotgun and fired another shot at Han Xiao. The force of the explosion knocked Han Xiao into the wall once again.

Before Han Xiao could pull himself out of the wall, he felt a sense of danger and immediately covered his entire body with armor.

Mag stood on the ceiling with one assault rifle in each hand. He used [Moving Snipe] and [Pouring Ammunition] at the same time. The increased fire rate from both skills together turned the bullets into a storm raining down on Han Xiao, keeping him stuck on the wall. The holes in the wall turned to waves of dust, and the cracks grew even larger.

“He should be almost dead.” Mag was confident, this round of explosive damage that he had dealt with the combination of abilities and hundreds of bullets should have left the target almost dead, if not dead.

Dust filled the air and blocked the view inside the pit.

Hum—

A loud and weird sound appeared.

Suddenly, an invisible force field exploded on the wall, pushing away the rain and bullets, creating an area of empty space.

Field Repulsive Machine!

Using the repulsion from the machine, Han Xiao jumped out of the pit and remained stagnant in the air for a short moment. He held up the Phantom Ghost Sniper with one hand and aimed at Mag from afar, locking onto his position.

Time seemed to have slowed down.

Mag felt a chill down his spine. The gun gave him a piercing sense of coldness, and his intuition told him that it was extremely deadly. He tried to dodge as soon as he could, but Han Xiao fired his shot before he could dodge fully.

In the flash of blue light, Mag felt an irresistible force bursting on his chest. He was knocked into the air and rolled to the other side of the roof, barely grabbing the edge of the rooftop in the last second before falling down.

The pain from his chest hurt like hell. He looked down and saw a bloody hole on his right chest that penetrated his body through the bulletproof vest. Blood was gushing from within.

He shot through my lung… Mag was sweating heavily from the pain of the wound. Every time he took a breath, it felt like a knife was carving back and forth in his lung. He was shocked and frightened; the power from this shot was stronger than one of his even when he was at peak performance!

Where the hell did this extremely strong guy come from? And who was he? His explosive power was even superior to the Ace of Ordina, but Mag had never seen him before!

Had Mag not dodged, the bullet would have hit his eye.

He had ended up in this state even with a bulletproof vest. If he had been even half a second slower when he dodged…

Mag’s fear toward Han Xiao peaked.

_____________________

You destroyed Mag • Lesley’s [Synthetic Ceramic Bulletproof Vest].

You dealt 772 points of damage to Mag • Lesley.

Mag • Lesley has entered Moderate Bleeding state, losing 5 health/s for 60s.

Mag • Lesley has entered Penetrated Lung state, -10% Dexterity, -15% Movement Speed.

_____________________

This explosive shot was used with [Flaming Will] and [Overload], so the damage was frightening.

Han Xiao took a deep breath. For the first time, his Magnetically-Controlled Retractable Armor was close to being destroyed; the damage from Mag’s storm of bullets had decreased it’s durability to the alarming zone of 100 points. If he had still been wearing the first version of it without all the improvements that he had made, it would have been destroyed.

Cannon Masters were known for their firepower. If Mag could get better firearms, his damage would have further increased.

To Mag, the fact that Han Xiao was still standing after all the bullets he had fired was already quite unbelievable.

If Han Xiao were to stay and continue the fight, he would almost certainly win, but he heard the engines from afar—their backup was here.

This is Ordina’s territory. I’ll be outnumbered easily by their countless men. Mag already knew my explosive damage, so his plan from now on will definitely be stalling me. I have already got my thing, so there’s no need for me to stay and fight. Running away now is the priority, Han Xiao thought to himself and retreated without hesitation.

Mag was still horrified by that shot from Han Xiao, so he acted with a lot of caution, firing a few shots and hiding into cover straight after. He seemed like a different man.

Han Xiao’s pressure decreased tremendously. While Mag was being cautious, he used [Overload] on his skating shoes, accelerating rapidly in a split second and disappearing from Mag’s sights.

Mag lost Han Xiao completely in the complicated streets of the city. He called his colleagues instantly to check on the cameras in the city, but Han Xiao was nowhere to be found. It was like he had vaporized.

The mission target was the seller, who was experienced in escaping after so many years of being chased, and because this buyer reminded the seller a second earlier, he had found a chance to escape from the agents. Thus, Mag could only go after the buyer, but despite being the Ace, not only did he not catch the target, he was even badly damaged. Anger and dismay filled his chest; failing the mission was like a slap on his face.

Ordina agents started searching the area, which expectedly lead to no result. They could only pass their recorded fighting video to the intelligence unit for analysis. However, although they did not have any hope that doing this would give them any valuable information, they surprisingly found someone who’s fighting style was the same as the buyer’s.

Black Phantom!

“They look completely different, but he might have worn a skin mask.”

“It all makes sense now. Only Black Phantom could disappear like a ghost!”

In the action command room, Mag was being treated by the doctor. His face was gloomy. He had heard of Black Phantom before, but as an Ace agent of an intelligence organization, he had looked down on assassins like Black Phantom. However, through this accidental clash with Black Phantom, despite being the pursuer, he had been defeated and critically damaged, unable to even follow the target. Mag felt ashamed.

No wonder he is a legend. The action commander did not blame Mag as failure was not unacceptable when the opponent was Black Phantom. The question was, why did Black Phantom come to the Western Continent? Did he have a deal with the outlaw they were following?

Ordina’s intelligence unit took the appearance of Black Phantom very seriously. They opened a meeting and told the hacker unit to play with the source of this information, which was the short call Han Xiao had with the seller about the deal location.

“Greetings.”

“How are we going to carry out the deal?”

“In three days. In a moment, I will send you the location. Bring your money, and I will bring the stuff.”

“Okay, I will get one of my men to carry out the deal.”

The last sentence was the key. The person that the buyer sent was astonishingly Black Phantom, which meant that the identity of the buyer was clear!

After running away from Mag’s sights, Han Xiao turned back to the direction that he had come from where the surveillance cameras were destroyed. He changed his clothes and the face on the skin mask, dived into the crowd, and escaped successfully.

He headed to the border, and just as he expected, the border was locked down as special operation units and scouts searched everyone who passed by.

Aren’t I so unlucky, getting into a fight with agents when I just wanted to buy some equipment? It seemed Antonio’s words had become the truth. He really met people from Ordina’s intelligence organization.

Their ability to extract information was undoubted, Han Xiao figured they would probably be able to sniff out that he was Black Phantom from his fighting style. Well, he had no choice since he was running for his life. Of course he had to not held back, or he would have been dead.

Why is it so tough to just keep a low profile? Han Xiao sighed. Exposing his identity was not going to affect him since nobody really knew who he was, but he felt like someone got into trouble because of that. Never mind, it was a small issue anyways.

At least Han Xiao got the Mini Bonfire Reaction Furnace, he was contented.

Han Xiao knew where human smuggler was. The border being locked down would not obstruct him from smuggling himself out. Although the price increased, it was acceptable to him.

…

After going to a rural area in Severus and smuggling himself out of the city, one hour had already passed.

The rain had stopped. Replacing the clouds and fog, the sky was sunny and bright.

While on the road with his Hover-shoes, Han Xiao’s phone suddenly rang. It was from Bennett.

“Why did the Ordina intelligence organization call the higher-ups of my organization, asking for an explanation and even compensation‽ What the hell did you do on the Western Continent‽”

Bennet was at a loss for words; it felt like misfortune just fell down onto him from the sky out of nowhere.

Ordina showed him the evidence, which was the recording of the phone call, and Bennett could easily tell that the voice of the buyer was clearly Han Xiao.

Who in the world would say “Okay, I will send one of my men over” then go over himself‽ Even if you want to confuse others, at least don’t fight in such an obvious and unique style!

It’s very misleading you as*hole!

“Well, it was supposed to hide my identity, but it seems like that didn’t work. Anyways, don’t worry, it’s not a big issue. I only fought some Ordina people, beat up a few agents, and destroyed some a few building, nothing much. The people of Ordina were quite welcoming. By the way, the weather here is not good at all; it keeps raining and feels really gloomy. It’s not like the Southern Continent, where it feels like spring and is very comfortable. I prefer Southern Continent’s weather much more”

Bennett was stunned. “How did you change the topic so naturally to talk about the weather? Could your skills to change topic be any worse?”

Han Xiao laughed it off and said, “It was an accident, that’s all. I’ve got something to attend to, got to go.”

“You as*ho—”

Han Xiao hung up the call quickly before Bennett finished the sentence. Whew—That was definitely a misstep. Didn’t expect Ordina to be this angry. Did they really have to be?

_____________________

[Dragged In] Completed

You received 65,000 experience.

You completed the hidden requirement—stop Mag and help the mysterious seller to escape within three minutes.

_____________________

Han Xiao raised his eyebrows and thought, So, this is the hidden requirement. Luckily, I didn’t leave the seller behind.

He had actually come up with two plans at the time, one was to not do anything and let the seller attract the attention of Ordina since he was not the target anyway. But he went with the other plan, which was to warn the seller.

Looks like I made the right choice. Han Xiao had a smile on his face. He had hoped the reward to not be experience anymore. Since there were already players, he was not in need of it.

_____________________

You received bonus rewards.

Character Summon Card: Dion.

LV 30 Special Dungeon Crystal, [Olayna Infiltration Plan]

+30 Relationship with Dion. Trading is now available.

_____________________

Dion? Han Xiao remembered with joy after thinking back for some time. Dion was a mysterious NPC on Planet Aquamarine; he was part of a hidden organization that kept a very low profile. Dion sold all sorts of rare supplies. He was like a hidden store, and there was no fixed mission for players to meet him. They had to pray to the Goddess of Fortune.

And even if players had the chance to take on the mission, if they did not fulfill the hidden requirement, they would also miss the opportunity.

So, he was the seller… Han Xiao was a little astonished.

His phone rang again. This time it was from the seller.

“My phone was tapped. I have settled it, so my calls will not expose any more secrets. I dragged you into this. I heard Mag also took part in the mission. If you did not warn me, I might not have been able to escape. I owe you one.”

“Since you are calling me, it means you wanted to repay me.” Han Xiao acted like it was not a big deal, but he was laughing with happiness on the inside.

“You can call me Dion,” the seller said. “Usually I don’t do business with new customers, but you’re an exception, I will give you 20% off everything”.

“Only 20%?” Han Xiao raised his tone. “Can you give a bit more.”

Dion was stunned. Should a legendary killer not be more… mysterious? He remained silent for a moment and replied, “20% is a very high discount already.”

“Fine,” Han Xiao said mockingly.

Not long after, Han Xiao received a message—the item list of Dion’s Store. There were many rare items, and some of them were likely even secret research documents of the Six Nations.

There were even high-tier machines, which included the Mini Bonfire Reaction Furnace and a few nanotechnology machines that he had seen before from Lei Zhenyu, who had also traded with Dion before.

Han Xiao was very delighted. He had a large sum of money earned from the two Novice Villages in Western Continent, which he could spend in any way he wanted to, and he was in need of new parts to build the Mech.

Quickly deciding with a few mechanical items, Han Xiao asked, “How do we make the deal?”

“Through a meetup, but this time at a rural area, in three days’ time. I will give you a location, and I will send someone to pass the stuff to you. My identity is rather sensitive, so I will not turn up due to my own safety. Please understand.

Han Xiao was pleased. He only had one step left to finish his Mech, and once he got the materials, he would be able to complete it.

Han Xiao hung up the call and paid close attention to the other two items that were part of the rewards—Character Summoning Card of Dion and a Level30 special Dungeon Crystal.

_____________________

Character Summoning Card: Dion

Ability: “You Can’t See Me” (D)—Lowers one’s sense of existence, making living or non-living things nearby have deviated sense when they are detecting him…

Usages: 0/2

_____________________

It is not an Esper power or pure invisibility but something like a power that adjusts one’s self to fit the surroundings. It is a unique power.

It seems to be quite useful, except its name was weird…

He looked at the other item.

_____________________

Level30 Special Dungeon Crystal—”Olayna” Infiltration Plan

Introduction: Olayna is a secret research lab of Ordina. A few years ago, Dion infiltrated this facility and stole their military secrets, this will be your test.

Dungeon Type: Backwards Time Travel Dungeon

Player Completion Count: 0

Shortest Completion Time: 00:00:00

Record Holders: None

_____________________

The Dungeon Missions only appeared when inside the dungeon. Han Xiao guessed that it would require him to take on the identity of Dion and steal the secret documents just as Dion did.

Using Dungeon Crystal was risky for him, so he kept it unclaimed in the interface, considering selling it to players in the future.

…

Three days later, at the meetup location, two of Dion’s man were waiting in masks, carrying the items that Han Xiao had ordered. Han Xiao paid the money and got the things right at the spot; it went smoothly this time.

Going back to the cargo plane, Han Xiao opened the metal suitcase that he had received, which held the materials securely.

U9 Colloidal bulletproof Membrane, its functions had already been mentioned before.

‘Nerves’ Biological Transmission Cable increased energy efficiency, which led to a higher output. Using it in a mechanical suit would slightly increase its basic stats.

High-Speed Injection Module could be placed inside the mechanical suit to inject some potions, such as healing potion and steroids. He also bought some pain killer.

Han Xiao had studied enough blueprints, and now he had all the materials he needed, so he decided to self-create a mechanical suit.

To prevent distractions, he had the plane parked in a hidden place and stopped all other activists.

…

Five days later, with dark bags under his eyes, Han Xiao looked at the completed suit with a smile of relief.

It’s done.

_____________________

The scan is successful. You have successfully created a new prototype blueprint!

Please name the blueprint…

_____________________

Han Xiao contemplated for a while. This light mechanical suit was a knockoff of the Python, but many parts and modules were different from the original, so it suited his needs. He had an idea for a suitable name.

_____________________

Named Successfully, you received customized blueprint [Light Mechanical Suit—Viper]

_____________________

This is a good name. Han Xiao was satisfied.

Viper was a completely black combat suit. There were platinum alloy plates on the outside of chest, belly, thighs, and back. A little below the back of the neck was where the Mini Bonfire Reaction Furnace was slotted into, emitting a faint red light. Spaces between the armor were filled with U9 Colloidal Bulletproof Membrane, which had very high defensive power.

On the inside of the combat suit was PE-0 fiber that was designed to look like muscle outlines, which increased the user’s powers.

The helmet was a one-piece mask made of high breathability materials, which had a filtration device at the mouth made of metal and a “B” shaped protective goggles at the eyes. From the user’s perspective, the goggles had technical functions that listed out data scanned and captured from the battlefield.

There were also many weapon modules in the suit.

_____________________

Viper

Type: Single Unit Light Mechanical Combat Suit

Grade: White

Basic Stats:

– Armor 5600/5600

– Defense 137

– Power Level 578

– Energy 2600/2600

Height: 1.82m

Weight: 108 lb

Control Method: Body + Low-Class Smart Chip

Power Source: Mini Bonfire Reaction Furnace – Self Charge

Recovers Energy at 20/min

Energy conversion rate from user: 10:6

Stationary Mode Energy Usage: 12/min

Combat Mode Energy Usage: 28/min

Core Power Capacity: 421/600

[Bone Structure Module: PE0 Nanotechnology Fiber]

Biological Muscle Inner Bone

Strengthens muscle when the user moves the body

Hardens muscle under attack

Increases Attributes: S trength +38, Dexterity +25, DEF +12

Power Output: 70

[Armor Plating Module: Platinum Alloy Plate]

Armor +1800

DEF +30

Power Output: None

[Armor Plating Module: U9 Colloidal bulletproof Membrane]

Armor +2400

DEF +45

Power Output: None

[Exterior Module: Optical Camouflage]

Reflects light to achieve invisibility to a certain extent

Power Output: 20

[Eye Module]

Combination of: Electrical Scanning, Thermal Vision, Night Vision

Display information in Technical Hologram Screen

Power Output: 25

[Right-Hand Module: Heating Hand Plate]

Produces a high amount of heat and deals continuous damage

Energy Cost: 1.2/s

Damage Level: 94

Power Output: 50

[Left-Hand Module: As above]

[Right-Wrist Module: Sunworm Mini Flamethrower]

Energy Cost 1/s

Damage Level: 98

Power Output: 50

[Left-Wrist Module: Field Repulsive Machine (Directional)]

Releases repulsive energy in an arc of 150° and 20m.

Cooldown: 30s

Energy Cost: 10 per use

Power Output: 60

[Leg Module: Electrical Hover Boots]

Energy Cost: 5/min

Power Output: 30

[System Module: Body Condition Check]

Power Output: 5

[System Module: Smart Fire Control System]

Aim Assist

Power Output: 5

[System Module: Target Analysis Database]

Power Output: 5

[Subsidiary Module: High-Speed Injection Needle]

Equipped: Pain Killer

Power Output: 10

[Subsidiary Module: Mini Spider Detector] * 8

Power Output: None

[Subsidiary Module: Electromagnetic Pulse Controller]

Applies [Excitement]

All Stats +5%

Duration: 15 mins

Energy Cost: 5 per use

Power Output: 10

[Subsidiary Module: SUI Anti-Radar Coating]

Power Output: None

[Subsidiary Module: Mini-Radar]

Power Output: 18

[Subsidiary Module: Air Filtration Device]

Includes Oxygen Storage Capability, can store up to 15 minutes worth of oxygen.

Power Output: 8

[Subsidiary Module: Thermostat]

Power Output: 10

[Additional Ability: Strong Capability]

During Combat, distributes energy to Biological Muscle Inner Bone,

Increases stats: S trength +40, Dexterity +20

[Additional Ability: Toughness]

Using Platinum Alloy and U9 Colloidal Bulletproof Membrane, gains high resistance against corrosion, high temperature, and other abnormal states.

[Remark: A successful knockoff]

_____________________

Finally, I have completed the mechanical suit. Han Xiao was excited. He had also received close to 20,000 experience from making it.

Viper was mainly used to increase the power of a single person and consisted of generally smaller modules. The power capacity was not full yet, so it could include more modules in the future if Han Xiao so desired.

Viper raised the combat power of Han Xiao to a whole new level, and it did not interfere with him using other guns, grenades, or weapons. This mechanical suit was a second combat tactic, which provided higher survival capabilities and increased all of his stats. If it was in combat mode, it would increase Han Xiao’s strength by more than two times.

Han Xiao now had a sniper at long range and mechanical suit at close combat. Furthermore, Viper was lightweight; it could be folded into a suitcase, and Han Xiao had his Magnetically-Controlled Retractable Armor for when he was not wearing the mechanical suit.

I will have to test out its actual combat capabilities. Han Xiao decided on the next destination—it was where the tragedy of La Potter took place.

What convenient timing—killing the beast BOSS over there was also part of his plan.

…

The tragedy of La Potter occurred in a forbidden zone that was filled with wild beasts. The beasts in the area were strengthened by a mutation virus called ‘Death Virus’.

A group of mutated rhinoceroses galloped across the maroon earth. They were enormous and muscular, their bones bulged from the body like an armor, and the cone-shaped horns on their heads were shining like metal.

Above, an anaconda with two pairs of bat wings dashed across the sky toward a corpse. Suddenly, a tiny blue flower beside the corpse turned into a gigantic mouth and swallowed the anaconda whole before turning back to its harmless disguise.

“All the beasts here are mutated.”

At the exteriors of the forbidden zone, with serious expressions on their faces, Yan Dian and Ned were analyzing the situation through their binoculars. They were lone superheroes that had taken on a contract to enter the zone and search for a group of civilian explorers. This civilian exploring group had entered the forbidden zone and put themselves in such a dangerous spot all to investigate the source of the virus, which was very noble in the eyes of Yan Dian and Ned. Therefore, they had accepted the contract without hesitation.

“There has always been radiation in La Potter, which is the cause of virus mutation,” Ned said.

“From the last location report of the exploration group sent before losing contact, they went missing in a valley that is quite some distance from us.”

“There’s a lot of unknown danger inside. We’ll have to be careful.”

In this area, any large transportation tool would become an obvious target both on land and in the sky. Therefore, they walked in on foot as it was the safer option.

On the other side of the forbidden zone, Han Xiao had arrived at his destination. The air was filled with a rotten smell and a hint of poison. The plants on the ground were mutated as well.

The spawn area is a little too huge. I don’t know where the Beast King is.

Han Xiao put down the metal suitcase, opened it, and donned the Viper mechanical suit. The hologram display had zooming functions and compiled data collected from many scanning modules, which provided more detailed information on the surroundings. There was also a radar at the top left side of the screen that could detect any signs of life within a radius of 500 meters. By increasing the power output, this radius could be improved to 1,500 meters.

The scanning module had plenty of useful functions. It could analyze the collected data from tiny signs and traces on the ground to determine the source of said traces, and it could also record previously unknown data into the database for future analysis.

The filtration device got rid of the rotten smell in the air. Han Xiao could hear himself breathing inside the suit, and the thermostat made him feel very comfortable in it instead of feeling stuffy.

He brought along some firearms and grenades that were all fixed into respective slots and firing tracks in the suit.

Han Xiao moved around to familiarize himself with the mechanical suit controls, then jumped into the zone with each step covering close to ten meters.

The suit was in standby mode, which used less energy than the Mini Bonfire Reaction Furnace generated, so the energy was always full.

The radar was active at all times. If it detected any being with strong vital signs, it could be the Beast King, and since the species of Beast King was random, even Han Xiao was uncertain of what species would it be.

After running for five minutes, a dozen or so vital signs appeared on the radar. The view from the hologram screen zoomed in like a sniper scope as Han Xiao gave the suit a voice command. The current controlling mode did not have nerve connection, only voice control for its various functions. The smart chip had voice identification and could analyze simple commands from Han Xiao; no one else could be able to use it.

At a few hundred meters away were a group of more than ten giraffe-like creatures with fearsome bone spurs, which clearly indicated they were not a tamed species. A few of the larger ones raised their necked and looked over to Han Xiao’s position; they seemed to have noticed him.

Stealth Mode.

Optical Camouflage was turned on, and the exterior of the mechanical suit turned into the same color as the surroundings like a chameleon. The gaps in the suit was also closed up, not letting out any scent.

The giraffe-like creatures shook their heads around but could not find him, so they lay back down.

If the level of the enemy was high enough, they would have been able to see through the camouflage, but these beasts were clearly far from that level. Han Xiao continued to move forward, searching for the target.

Two hours had gone by, and Han Xiao had already scanned dozens of mutated flora and fauna, which were all stored into the database. He had also fought a few beasts with various levels and vital signs to determine the approximate strength certain vital sign levels presented.

The highest leveled beasts that he had met was a pack of wolf-like beasts at LV 42, which was not his target.

The sun had set, and the night became more dangerous as howling filled the forbidden zone.

If Han Xiao did not have his mechanical suit, the night would have been dangerous to him as well, but Viper’s stealth ability was strengthened by the night. It sealed all of his sound and scent and made him as inconspicuous as a rock.

I’ve yet to find the target, Han Xiao thought. He sat by a large rock and inserted bullets into the clip as he changed the visor mode to night vision. The chance of the Beast King spawning at the heart of the zone, The Ruins of La Potter, was higher, as the closer toward the center, the more beasts there were.

With a voice command, the armor around Han Xiao’s calves split open. Inside was a small space that stored the Spider Detectors. He activated them and made them spread out toward the center of the zone. The images captured by them were displayed on his goggles.

Spider Detectors worked in a shaky but rather quick way. After a while, Han Xiao could see the situation of the center zone, which was filled with ferocious looking beasts.

Suddenly, the image from Spider Detector No.1 experienced a slight shake, and loud crashing sounds could be heard from afar. The beasts were then seen all going in the same direction.

Spider Detector No.1 climbed up a long-haired boar and headed toward the same direction. Two Superhumans running for their lives from the beasts appeared in sight. One of them was an Esper who could release white shockwaves from the hands, which was quite powerful and knocked closing beasts back again and again. However, the sound it produced attracted more and more beasts. It was a vicious cycle that only made the situation worse.

There are others who have entered this forbidden zone? Han Xiao raises his eyebrows in surprise.

Right the next moment, a white lion that was five meters tall and more than ten meters long appeared. All the other beasts got out of his way with fear, and those who did not were all dead.

Han Xiao’s eyes twinkled. That was most likely the Beast King.

…

Yang Dian and Ned ran with all their might to the extent that their lungs felt like it was burning. Behind them were more than a hundred mutated beasts and an enormous white lion.

“All of this is because of your power. Its sound attracted so many beasts!” Yang Dian said while clenching his teeth in anger.

“Shut up! If not for your carelessness, we could’ve avoided that pack of wolves! Stop complaining and making useless comments, what should we do now?” Ned said as he released another shockwave, knocking back a few beasts that came too close.

Yang Dian took out his laptop while running to look at the map and said, “We’re getting closer to the center of the zone. It’s extremely dangerous there, so we have to change direction now!”

They turned hastily. The beasts were chasing closely with the enormous white lion leading ahead. Ned’s shockwaves could only stop its movement for a mere second and could not even push it back even the slightest distance. Ned was sweating heavily; he was running out of energy.

This time, a cliff appeared in front. There was a gap on the ground that could only fit a human, and he had to enter sideways.

“Quick! Hide inside!” They were overjoyed.

Suddenly, Ned noticed a huge shadow below him expanding at a fast pace. Turning around with surprise, Ned saw the white lion jump toward him and slam its claws straight down. The wind from the raw power of the beast was so strong that Ned could barely open his eyes or breathe.

“You go first!” Yang Dian shouted as he pushed Ned away. He then punched toward the claw with blue flames wrapping around his arm.

He was a Pugilist that had a stronger physique and could endure more damage than Ned, so he was confident it would not be a problem to block just this one attack.

Fists and claws clashed with each other.

The sound of bones breaking could be heard clearly; Yan Dian’s arm was fractured, and a few of his ribs were also broken just from the impact alone. He threw up a mouthful of blood and flew up like a pebble.

Ned quickly pulled him along into the gap between the ground, and the claws followed them the next moment and broke stones into pebbles. Almost… they almost did not make it.

“Such strong raw strength!’ Yan Dian’s face was twitching from the pain. A strong Pugilist like him had been critically injured by just one hit; the power of this lion was unheard of.

Ned was even more aghast. He knew the power of Yan Dian, but even he could not handle a single hit from the white lion.

They probably would not survive this time.

The beasts surrounded the outside, so they had no other choice but to depend on this gap to live.

Fortunately, the beasts could not enter… for now. They kept scratching the entrance, trying to create a bigger gap. Every time they heard the sound of claws against the rocks, their heartbeat became faster.

Yang Dian took out bandages and ointment to treat the wounds. What they would face next could very well be a death battle. Thus, he had to recover as quickly as possible. Ned was also trying to recover as much energy as possible even it meant he would suffer more injury in the future. All they wished was to get through this.

All of a sudden, the beasts outside gathered tightly and started running toward each other. The white lion let out a loud growl and started killing other beasts. The beasts also started to turn against each other. Blood spilled everywhere, and growling rumbled on continuously.

“The beasts started killing each other.”

Smiles appeared on their faces as they decided to wait and see.

The beasts fought for more than half an hour, leaving corpses everywhere. The white lion was the final winner. Blood from other beasts had added red to its snowy fur. It stood before the gap and growled at the rest of the beasts, indicating that they were his prey. The beasts backed off and left the prey for the king of the beasts.

The beast herd was gone, but the strongest one of them all, the white lion, was still waiting outside. As it clawed at the hole, the opening became larger, so it would not be long before Yang Dian and Ned had nowhere to hide.

Their hearts sank to the bottom.

Ned bit his lips and said, “Your wounds are too severe. You be the bait, and maybe I can live.”

Yang Dian looked at his heavily wounded body and said, “It’s true I won’t be able to escape. It’s better for one to die than both. If you can make it out alive, remember to take care of my family.”

“I will. I will raise your child and take care of your wife.”

They looked at each other and stayed silent for a moment. Then they both gave a bitter smile.

“Stop talking nonsense. If we’re going to die, we’ll die together.”

Yang Dian stood up in a struggle and said, “We’ll use everything we have left.”

Ned nodded. White light started lighting up on his hands as he got ready for combat.

Just as they were going to leave and use everything they had, a flash of blue light dashed across the night sky and hit the white lion’s left eye. Immediately, it burst into blood. Then they heard the sound of a gunshot.

The white lion roared in anger and sprinted toward the source of the gunshot.

Yang Dian and Ned were stunned, which then turned into excitement.

“Someone’s came to help!”

Five hundred meters away, Han Xiao lay prone on the floor with the Ghost sniper rifle, blue light glowing along the circuits on its body.

Through the sniper scope, he saw the white lion rushing toward him with a bloody left eye.

This shot was fired with Flaming Will, which this time it triggered a lucky 2.2 times damage, together with [Overload], vital point, and sneak attack critical damage. The damage was an astonishing 1,800! This was the highest damage Han Xiao had dealt with a single shit.

However, the white lion was still alive and well like it did not affect him. Han Xiao looked at the information on the interface, and as he expected, the white lion was indeed the beast king. Its real name was Mutant White Lion King, LV 56. It had a lot of beast specialty abilities. For instance, it’s health was a horrifying amount of more than 18,000, so the shot only too around 10% of its health, as well as a sight loss debuff.

_____________________

Mutant White Lion King

Level: 56

Health: 15724/18700

Status: -50% Field of View, Moderate Bleeding State

Attributes: 135 S trength, 126 Dexterity, 240 Endurance, 30 Intelligence, 22 Mystery, 31 Charisma, 24 Luck

_____________________

Its attributes were very high, and it had many special abilities, which included one called [Crazed Rage] that largely enhances movement speed, attack speed, and damage as health decreased. An extremely dangerous ability.

This BOSS was supposed to be fought by a team, but Han Xiao was solo. However, with the new mechanical suit, the risk was much lower.

Han Xiao stood up and slid backward while firing with his sniper continuously. Despite wearing Viper, he would not opt for close-range combat. Mixing combat strategies was the right way to go. By using the sniper and mechanical suit at the same time, he could have an advantage in both close-up and ranged combat. The scanning module analyzed the nearby terrain and backed up automatically without Han Xiao having to look back, so he could fully focus on dealing damage.

After kiting for a while, when Han Xiao finished all the clips of Red Falcon and Berserk Eagle, Mutant White Lion King finally closed in to within a hundred meters.

Han Xiao stopped backing up and instead dashed forward to the beast king.

“Switch to Combat Mode!” Han Xiao yelled.

Electricity pumped through the cables. As bright red light shone from the Bonfire Reaction Furnace on his back, muscle fibers in the suit expanded and provided Han Xiao with even more power.

Clenching his fist, Han Xiao could clearly feel the amount of power in the mechanical suit just waiting to be let out; the additional attributes from the suit had more than doubled his S trength and Dexterity.

Yang Dian and Ned saw from afar that Han Xiao was going to face the white lion king head-on.

“Don’t fight him at such a close range!” they shouted at Han Xiao in shock.

This mysterious person in the mechanical suit was there to save them—he was their hope. They could remember how easily Yang Dian had been defeated, and this guy might very well end up the same.

Such a small sized human, yet he still chose to face the enormous beast head-on! It was like throwing an egg at a stone—it would have no impact!

The man and the lion crashed against each other. The result was certain in the minds of Yang Dian and Ned. They almost wanted to close their eyes and not see how cruel the end would be for that mysterious man.

But they were wrong. The mysterious man not only did not suffer a tragic loss, but it was the white lion that was growling in pain. The white lion king was knocked back, and half of Han Xiao’s body was hammered into the ground. They were unbelievably on par!

Han Xiao had a lighter weight. He had to direct the strength into the ground to not be knocked up. With the leg muscles unleashing their energy, Han Xiao jumped out of the ground and swung his leg onto the white lion’s head like a whip. With a loud sound, a ripple appeared in the air.

The white lion’s skull changed shape from the power. Its whole body was sent rolling away and smashing onto the ground.

“Oh my god!”

Yang Dian and Ned were completed stunned by what they saw.

Their sizes were more than ten times apart, and that terrifying white lion had just lost to this mysterious person! In strength!

Yang Dian felt his throat going dry. What he had seen was too impactful. Just because he could not do it, did not mean others could not. He had fought with other Pugilists that were stronger than him, and none of them even came close to how strong the White Lion King was. Yet, this mysterious man was even stronger than that.

“What mechanical suit is that? I’ve never seen that before,” Yang Dian said.

Ned’s eyes continued staring straight ahead, not sparing Yang Dian a glance. “Could it be a secret research of some giant organization?”

During combat mode, Viper gave an attribute boost of 78 S trength and 45 Dexterity, which made these two attributes of Han Xiao even higher than the White Lion King’s. What was even more horrifying was that his [Overload] could further improve the attributes from Viper!

Han Xiao had noticed Yang Dian and Ned much earlier, but since he did not know who they were, he did not bother much about it.

Han Xiao fought the Mutant White Lion King at a very close rage, each of his punches and kicks dealing a high amount of damage. Energy was flowing rapidly from the Mini Bonfire Reaction Furnace, and the high amount of armor protected him from White Lion King’s attacks.

Only using fists and legs was a total waste on all the functions the mechanical suit had. Han Xiao had turned on the Heating Gloves and Sun Worm and lit the White Lion King’s fur on fire, leaving burn marks around his body.

Their fight shook the ground like an earthquake. Even the duo watching from afar could feel it as they spectated the heated fight in awe. Although White Lion King’s attacks became strong and faster over time, Han Xiao still had the upper hand. He could avoid most attacks because of how agile he was, and even for those that he did not manage to avoid, they could not penetrate his suit.

The duo intended to help, but they realized that not only were they not able to, they might become a burden even if they tried to help. However, they were not the kind to leave their savior behind, so they stood aside watching helplessly.

Curiosity and amazement of Han Xiao’s mechanical suit filled their minds—they had never seen or heard any country that was ever able to make such a strong single unit combat suit with so many functions before.

Planet Aquamarine’s progress in mechanical suit research has always lacked behind. Rumor had it that only the country of Theseus had exoskeleton mechanical suit prototypes, but they were heavy and bulky and could not improve the user’s physical abilities. However, this mechanical suit was far beyond their knowledge and understanding.

In galactic civilizations, single unit combat suit was standard equipment for soldiers, which reduced the gap between humans and Superhumans, and it was more than a bargain for players.

The Viper was a piece of equipment ahead of its time—it should never have even appeared in front of players in version 1.0. In fact, no mechanical suit was supposed to have been created in version 1.0 and definitely not owned by any player.

The White Lion King jumped up in the air and pounced toward Han Xiao.

As the wind pressure came closer to his head, Han Xiao calmly raised his hand toward the White Lion King. An invisible force shot out from his arm as he turned on the Field Repulsive Machine. The White Lion King was knocked back and fell to the ground.

Han Xiao was using many modules simultaneously, so the energy level was steadily decreasing over time.

After countless punches, the White Lion King’s health was down to around 30%. The White Lion King howled toward the sky. Its skins turned red; it had entered Rage Mode. Or as the players called it, the second phrase. Han Xiao could feel the pressure bursting in a short moment

I shouldn’t face him directly during Rage Mode. Han Xiao decided to retreat to a safer range. For the time being, it was his combat style to be able to strike and escape anytime he wanted.

The White Lion King chased him for some time, then it slowed down, showing signs of exhaustion.

Just at this moment, [Flaming Will]’s cooldown ended, Han Xiao immediately held up his Ghost sniper rifle and shot at the other undamaged eye of the White Lion King.

This was the highest damage multiplier he had gotten ever since he learned [Overload]—4.1 times!

Lucky!

With this one shot, the only eye that the White Lion King had left burst into a cloud of blood. It was gravely injured and fell to the ground with just a few hundred points of health left.

“It’s dead!” In his excitement, Han Xiao let out a sigh of relief. Viper’s power was higher than he had expected, and it covered the Mechanics’ weakness of having low physical attributes and provided strong protection at close range, and it had high functionality in almost all aspects.

Viper was the basis of his secondary combat strategy. Just like how his sniping strategy built up slowly, his mechanical suit also needed more modules to be completed. This was just the beginning. This battle was a test of its actual combat capabilities, so he could figure out a clearer plan for future improvements. There was room for improvements in both combat and stealth abilities.

The White Lion King was unable to move, so Han Xiao went up and finished it easily. He took out the retractable knife and cut out its heart. It was the size of a basketball, filled with violet colored nerves, hot like a ball of fire.

_____________________

You received a special item [Mutated Heart].

You have triggered mission [Virus Research]!

Mission Introduction: Beasts in this area are all infected by Death Virus. Some organizations are looking for research samples that are strong enough. That’s right, I’m talking about this heart you’re holding.

Mission Requirement: Bring [Mutated Heart] to Louis Biological Research Institution in seven days.

Reward: Death Virus Drug x 1

_____________________

This mission was a bonus rewards mission triggered by the heart. The drug reward was able to increase one’s attributes permanently, and there was a small chance to give the user a rare talent ability.

In the previous life, the Beast King BOSS was always killed within hours after spawning, and since the Death Virus Drug could be used more than once, the biggest guilds were the ones that controlled the area to grind the drug.

Louis Biological Research Institution was open to the general public, and players could exchange all kinds of weird materials for drugs that were not any less weird. It was in Maple.

Han Xiao took out the liquid nitrogen suitcase that he had prepared and placed the lion heart inside, then he heard the sounds of footsteps. Yang Dian and Ned walked to him with hesitation.

“Thank you for helping us,” Yang Dian said as he looked at Viper’s mask. However, he could not see Han Xiao’s face.

Han Xiao did not reply. He checked through his inventory and left—the smell of blood would attract more beasts. Plus, he needed a place to rest.

The duo looked at each other awkwardly, then caught up to Han Xiao and introduced themselves. With high hopes, they said to Han Xiao, “We came here to save an exploration team. They went deep into the zone to find the cure of the virus and have lost contact. We hope you can help us.”

_____________________

You triggered Grade D Mission [Save the exploration team].

Accept or reject?

_____________________

“Reject.”

Han Xiao swung his hands, turned his voice to an electrically mixed fake voice, and said, “Don’t bother me.”

Saving them would mean having to bring a group of normal people across the forbidden zone—the chance of success was too low. Every second spent there would increase the level of danger. Han Xiao’s target was only the mutated heart, and it was completed. Thus, there was no need for him to waste his time in the zone. He did not want to just follow the missions blindly.

“They are in danger because they wanted to solve the disaster. How can you not help!” Ned said anxiously.

Han Xiao turned on his hovering shoes and left without replying. It was clear what he meant at this moment. Do whatever you want, but don’t drag me into it.

The duo watched with resignation as Han Xiao left.

Not everyone is kind like them, and they knew that, but they were still upset over losing such strong help.

…

Han Xiao left the Forbidden Zone and went back to the cargo plane that was parked far away. He took the mechanical suit off and let out a sigh of relief.

Viper had amazing capabilities, and he was satisfied with the actual combat results.

The plane took off for Maple, to get in touch with Louis Biological Research Institution and exchange the heart for the drug. He also planned to do a threatening mission while he was there, and the contact for the Blood Pact Society was also in Maple.

Han Xiao looked at the brief mission introduction on his laptop.

My contact is a hitman? Wait a minute, this name looks familiar, Golden Fox? I might have seen it somewhere before.

Han Xiao raised his brows a little but did not bother much about it. Putting the matter aside, he opened the forum—his focus at the moment was players.

Han Xiao still had two novice villages in the Western Continent that he had not visited. The new players there had already almost reached an average level of ten. By this time, they would have all started leaving the village to explore the map, but because of Han Xiao, some players stayed to wait for his arrival.

The feeling was great. His actions had affected the players in what they did, which was all because of the recent popularity and influence he had gained.

Reading through the forums, some new posts had attracted his attention. They were mostly from players in the land of Andrea, and the content was all complaining.

“Question, why is the Germinal Organization coming to novice villages to capture us?”

“I have been brainwashed, my faction is locked, and I have lost relationship points—why is this happening?”

“An NPC sliced me into pieces and asked about my origins…”

“Me too!”

“Is this part of the storyline? But I did not get any alerts on my interface.”

Some players recorded the process of Germinal Organization capturing players in the novice villages. Fully armed soldiers placed handcuffs on players one by one, and some players resisted but were shot immediately by paralysis bullets.

A group of cuffed players sat in the back of the car. Space was tight, and they could only see the outside world through windows covered by bars.

These players were brought to the bases of Germinal Organization one by one. Its bases were unlike the ones on the other three continents, which was very hidden. The bases of the headquarters in Andrea were all humongous and had extremely tight defenses.

The land of Andrea was brown. If someone could see from a satellite vision, they would see the bases of the Germinal Organization as black colored areas spreading across the brown land, like virus spots. This forsaken land was filled with abundant radiation and dirt with depreciating signs of life. The Germinal Organization took many old country facility ruins and inherited their facilities, including places that were once military sites.

Inhuman incident has started. Han Xiao’s eye twinkled. He had experienced this incident before in the previous life; it had been the hottest topic at the time.

Curiosity toward players from NPCs is the core attraction point of Galaxy—players appearing was part of the storyline. Different planets had different approaches toward the players, and Planet Aquamarine was the first planet for this to happen.

Before, as a player, he was basically rubbernecking and did not do anything. Now that he had a different perspective, he felt he could find out something else.

I have made the Germinal Organization lose all of their secondary bases, so the number of players joining them would be much fewer, and they have probably realized the damage that has caused.

Just imagining how angry their leader would be made Han Xiao happy.

Han Xiao turned on his laptop and browsed information through the Dark Net. The existence of players had already been noticed by many organizations; the natives of Planet Aquamarine were surprised by their arrival.

The Six Nations might make a move very soon, which would delay the expedition war, but it would still be earlier than my previous life.

Han Xiao narrowed his eyes. The war occurring earlier give him both advantages and disadvantages, advantages being the players have yet to grow strong enough, and when the Six Nations burst into an all-out war, their impact would be minimal, which reduced the accidental factors. With the power of the Six Nations, as long as the players did not interfere, they would totally crush the Germinal Organization.

Because of Han Xiao’s interference, the main storyline of the war between Six Nations and the Germinal Organization would very soon enter the climax, before the players even had enough ability to join into the story.

Stardragon’s Western Capital, Division 13 headquarters.

Gu Hui, the vice-chairman, and Division 13’s leaders gathered in the secret meeting room. Gu Hui pressed a button on the table, and the doors and the windows shut entirely. All surveillance devices lost their functionalities.

Gu Hui put on a serious look as he distributed the documents to everyone in the meeting. The documents had authorization stamps from the highest officials, which meant this information was highly confidential. It was the observation information of the Inhumans.

“Five days ago, rumors about the existence of Inhumans started spreading through the Dark Net. After investigating, it has been confirmed to be true. The documents state it clearly. Inhumans have been appearing and spreading in every continent like a virus. They appeared out of nowhere, and their origins are unknown.

“From the information that we found on the Dark Net, the Inhumans have the following characteristics…” Gu Hui stated the information that they had on the players, which was similar to what the Germinal Organization had. They knew that the players disappeared instantly, would not die, and one other point. “Through our observation, their average power is not high. The threat level is identified as low.”

“If we don’t suppress this phenomenon, it might spread like a disease and cause a disaster,” one person said.

Gu Hui nodded and said, “The highest officials have given us their commands. Contacting these Inhumans will now be our priority.”

“What about the expedition? The supplies and our army have already been prepared. We can head to Andrea anytime.”

“The highest-level superiors have already come to an agreement with the leaders of other countries to temporarily stop the expedition. We have to first understand the situation of this inhuman phenomenon; it has higher threat potential.” Gu Hui Knocked the table, he scanned through everyone and said, “Ask our people to bring back some Inhumans. Also, be friendly—we do not know anything about their origin.”

“Some of our agents are undercover in Andrea. Should we call them back?” the head of field operations said.

“No need, let them retrieve more intelligence. We have enough manpower,” Gu Hui said. “When we have a conclusion on this, maybe the officials will seek help and answers from the Galactic Civilizations.”

…

As the average level of players became higher, their actions made a greater impact and attracted the attention of the organizations. The Six Nations, Vagrants, Dark Net, and many large financial organizations were all paying attention to the Inhuman Phenomenon. They had been sending their people to contact these Inhumans with different approaches. Some were friendly, and some were not. The exception was Germinal Organization—they captured large numbers of players in Andrea, which forced player in the novice village to leave the village early.

For players, which organization they joined would not actually make a difference to them, but they would naturally want to resist if they were forced. The Germinal Organization had definitely left a bad impression on players, and for those who were already captured, they could only accept their fate.

Players in Andrea had a tough time. Their game experience was extremely bad, but it made players very curious about one thing—Why were the NPCs surprised about their existence? The NPCs acted almost like real people.

More and more organizations started contacting players, and more and more players experienced similar situations. They started making guesses actively on forums about the situation, and this topic soon became the most popular topic in the forum.

This only happened on Planet Aquamarine and not any other planets, so a large number of players from other planets visited the Planet Aquamarine site, which made it the most visited planet site of all the novice planets.

There were hundreds of new posts every second; its popularity was astonishingly high.

All kinds of speculations surfaced. The seemingly most possible and accepted theory was the Electrolux theory, but the game developers did not give any response. Players could only make random guesses, some of which were quite out of the box.

“We actually went through reincarnation to conquer a new world for our gods, serial number A12651 reporting for duty!”

“Bullshit, we’re Earth’s army to conquer alternative dimensions, and we have an honorable mission on our hands.”

“798 Space feet from the Earth Association. Commander Blacky is waiting for deployment. Victory belongs to earth!”

“You’re all wrong. The earth is just an illusion. This is actually the reality.”

“You youngsters are too naïve. This is all part of the Elder’s plan.”

“This marks the first step of Skynet’s domination over mankind. One day, all of our minds will be locked up in the game.”

“Hail Hydra!”

“Previous commenter is in the wrong set!”

“Sigh, I’m a retired soldier of the 1999 clan wars. Come to think of it, that was a really dark age.”

“This Grandpa above surely has a strong body, playing Full Dive VR games at such an old age.”

These ridiculous speculations became a joke that was trending all over the forum.

In a big picture, organizations contacting players with caution was beneficial. It was easier for players to pick a side or organization to join, except for players in Andrea who were being continuously captured.

Han Xiao was following the situation. He had information from both the Dark Net and the forum, which meant that he knew much more than any players or NPCs.

The mindset of both parties was very different. The organizations were careful and serious about it, while the players found it fun.

Interesting. Han Xiao raised his eyebrows.

The influence from the Inhuman incident was slowly fermenting as the organizations found out more and more about the players’ characteristics.

The pro players from my previous life should have met their opportunities by now.

Planet Aquamarine was China’s base camp, so there would definitely be some players who had met an opportunity, unlike other normal players.

The storyline was going on the right path. Han Xiao rushed to Maple, as the Mutated Heart Mission had a time limit.

Louis Research Institution was in Kaylos city in Maple. It was not near the border this time, so Han Xiao had to travel in a car for two days after being smuggled into the country.

The country of Maple felt lifeless. Its rigid political system, uneven wealth distribution, and resources were all tightly controlled by politicians, and the low class had very limited opportunities to improve their life. ‘Barely living and just waiting to die’ was the best phrase to describe civilians in Maple.

Walking on the street, long-faced pedestrians passed by him. Han Xiao rubbed his face. He felt that such a confident and handsome face did not fit in with the state of the people on the street.

Han Xiao changed his face again and even wore spectacles. He was sure that nobody could recognize him.

Louis Research Institution building was very tall and silver, which fitted the technology theme. The people in the building were all wearing white coats, as if they were worried about others not knowing they were doing technological research.

A receptionist walked to him with a well-mannered smile as soon as he walked in.

“Hi, do you require an introduction to the business scope of Louis Group Companies?”

Han Xiao raised the metal suitcase in his hands and said, “I have a heart from a Death Virus infected being. One of your researchers might be interested.”

“Please wait a moment, I will inform a superior.” The lady receptionist guided Han Xiao to the sofa and left.

Louis Research Institution accepted exterior research projects, so there were always customers who came to visit.

Han Xiao sat on the sofa and scanned the environment of the hall. It was built in the shape of a sphere, which made it look like a hotel hall.

After some time, two people covered in bandages walked in. Han Xiao raised his head as he smelled the odor of blood. It was the ‘superhero’ duo he had met in the Forbidden Zone.

These guys were saving some exploring team, could it be that the team was from Louis Research Institution?

Looks like they failed and are badly injured.

Han Xiao raised his brows but stayed put as they did not recognize him.

Yang Dian and Ned were frustrated. The exploration team that they were trying to save belonged to Louis Research Institution, and it was Louis Research Institution that entrusted them with the rescue mission. After Han Xiao left, they had rested for a while and started searching with caution. Eventually, they found the target at the valley that the exploration team had lost contact in.

However, all of them had been infected by Death Virus and had mutated. Bone spurs grew on their bodies, and they had turned into crazed beasts. There was no way to save them anymore.

The leader of the exploration team had been able to retain a small part of his sanity. He gave the duo a metal suitcase and told them it contained an important material that could create the cure for Death Virus. With his remaining rationality, he requested that they take it back to the Research Institution.

The duo had no choice but to abandon the incurable exploration team and leave the forbidden zone with the suitcase. They were attacked by a herd of beasts on their way out, and they protected the suitcase with their bodies. They luckily escaped with the suitcase undamaged, but they were covered in wounds

Yang Dian and Ned dragged their exhausted bodies onto the plane and came to Kaylos feeling pitiful. They could not save the exploration team and were ready to be blamed by the research institution, as they felt they did not live up to the trust they had been given.

A guy with spectacles and looking like someone of a high position walked out the lift and trotted toward the duo with a face full of hope.

“Heroes, you have returned.” He sounded very welcoming.

“Sorry Mr. Kate, we failed the mission,” Ned said in a very apologetic tone.

Kate’s expression changed. “Are they all dead?”

“Sorry, they were infected. We couldn’t do anything.” Yang Dian could not look at Kate’s grief-stricken face.

“It’s not your fault…”

Seeing Kate taking off his spectacles and rubbing his eyes made the duo feel even worse. Ned took out the metal suitcase and said, “The exploration team asked us to make sure this is delivered to you. It’s an important material that can solve the Death Virus!”

Kate took over the metal suitcase and gave it a gentle touch. “Sigh, I wish they made it back alive. This is their accomplishment, and we’ll never forget that. If we are able to make a cure out of this, it will be named after them.”

The duo could not agree more. Yang Dian sighed and said, “They are heroes. Not being able to save them is a regret that I’ll remember for life.”

“Don’t feel that way. Their hard work wouldn’t have paid off if not for you guys. You have done what you could, and you shouldn’t blame yourselves for that. If you don’t mind, we would like to take care of your wounds for free,” Kate said with appreciation.

“No need to, I can’t trouble you any further.” The more appreciation Kate showed, the sorrier the duo felt. They rejected the invitation and walked out with straight backs.

Kate pushed his spectacles and watched the duo leave. He then walked toward Han Xiao with a smile and said, “Greetings, do you have any business for the Research Institution?”

Han Xiao returned the smile and opened the metal suitcase, showing Kate the mutated heart.

“This is a Death Virus infected heart from a very strong being.”

Kate’s eyes sparkled, and he said with an even brighter smile, “Please, follow me.”

Kate led the way into the elevator, and they went up to the thirteenth floor. A long, white corridor came into sight after the doors opened. At the sides of it were many experimental labs with glass windows. Some of them had people that were running experiments, some had machines and materials, and there were also a few free researchers that were chatting in the corridor.

The thirteenth floor was one of the experimental floors of Louis Research Institution. As he led the way, Kate said, “The Death Virus has always been a very important project in our research. We kept running into obstacles and meeting limits because we don’t have enough supplies of lively materials. This heart is very important to us; we might be able to make a drug out of it straight away. As usual, we will give you a dose of it once it’s completed, but of course, we can exchange that for something else if you would like other rewards.”

“No need for that, I want the drug.” Han Xiao pointed at the metal suitcase in Kate’s hands that came from Yang Dian and Ned and said, “I thought you already have the material.”

“This? Hehe, well, this is important, too.” Kate laughed it off and did not explain further.

They stopped outside a big biological experiment lab. “Please kindly wait here. Unauthorized personnel are not allowed in the experimental lab.”

Han Xiao passed the suitcase to Kate, who then walked in with both suitcases and spoke to someone that seemed to be the supervisor of the experimental lab. The suitcases were opened on the table. Inside the other suitcase was a white colored egg. Han Xiao was unsure what creature was it from.

Kate and the lab supervisor spoke quietly, but with Han Xiao’s LV 55 senses, he could hear everything they said.

“What happened to the exploration team. All dead?” the supervisor asked.

“Yes,” Kate replied, “the heroes couldn’t save them.”

“At least the stuff is delivered. Never mind that they died, with this heart, we can make the drugs very soon. What did the ‘heroes’ say?”

“They felt they couldn’t live up to our trust. Hehe, employing these heroes is so much cheaper than mercenaries. As long as we give them a good reason, they might even do things for free. Saved me quite some money.”

“You didn’t get found out, did you?”

“Of course not, they’re stupid and naïve. A few lies, and they were easily touched and even almost cried. These so-called heroes are the easiest to convince. A little compliment and appreciation will make them lose their senses. They thought that they did a very honorable thing when they left. I almost burst into laughter.”

“Don’t offend these heroes. Do our best to build a good relationship with them.”

“Don’t worry, I gave them a good impression. If there are any dangerous things, we can still find them. They will not reject us as long as we give them a good reason.”

Han Xiao waited calmly without changing his expression.

Kate finished the conversation not long after. He came back outside the room and said with a polite smile, “It takes one day to make the drug. If you don’t mind, we can provide a room for you to rest, and the drug will be handed to you as soon as it’s done.”

“Okay.” Han Xiao did not object.

They took the lift to the residential floor, and Han Xiao was given a guest room. Kate mentioned a few areas that he was not allowed to enter and found an excuse to leave.

Han Xiao checked the room for cameras and found two of them, so he took out his laptop and hacked into the system, controlled the cameras in his room, and set it to a loop.

He then hacked into the database of the research institution without hesitation to look at their research projects.

[Elementary Coding] was already at the highest level. His hacking skills could get him through most of the firewalls on Planet Aquamarine, except for the Six Nations, Germinal Organization, the core of the Dark Net, and a few other large organizations. A small research institution could not stop him at all. He entered with ease without triggering any alarms, and he could erase his traces afterwards, so no one would be able to find out he had ever hacked into the system.

He opened the projects file of the research institution, and names appeared on the screen.

“Green Lizard Potion, Wild Bull Steroid, Thunder Claw Extraction, Stone Plaque Pathogen…”

Many names were drugs that players received in his previous life. After some time of finding, he finally found the Death Virus project. Its full name was [Death Virus Enhancement Agent]. In its detailed description, this was an experiment that could enhance one’s physical capabilities, and the research institution was certainly not doing any research on the cure that Yang Dian and Ned talked about.

Han Xiao’s eyes flashed as he clicked his keyboard, and he had planted a program.

Kate came to Han Xiao’s room on the next day, carrying a metal suitcase. He placed the suitcase on the table, patted it, and said, “The drug has been completed.”

When Han Xiao opened the suitcase, thick white gas escaped from within, and inside was a dark red, viscous drug. He reached out his hands to touch it, and information showed up in the interface.

_____________________

Death Virus Enhancement Agent (Low Concentration 3.5%): A drug made from some kind of gene mutation virus. Its essence can be used on human beings with high stability. Consumption affects: S trength +1, Dexterity +1, chance to awaken [Extraordinary Physique].

Remarks: Although its color looks like the product of menstruation, worry not, its taste is also like…

_____________________

Only low concentration, they gave me the one with the lowest quality, Han Xiao thought as he closed the suitcase.

“I’m satisfied with this,” he said with a smile.

“We look forward to our next partnership,” Kate replied politely.

“No need to look forward. I want to buy more drugs; what do you have in stock?”

“We only provide long term bulk supplies to large organizations and customers with abilities. If it’s a single customer… especially one with an unknown origin, I’m afraid it will be quite difficult. We hope you can understand. However, we can sell it in bulk to you if you can prove your ability to afford them in the long term.”

Kate expressed his difficulties just the right amount and made it look like he really wanted to agree but could not because of the rules and regulations. However, in the eyes of an experienced person like Han Xiao, it was very obviously done on purpose, most likely to raise the price.

Han Xiao smiled mysteriously. He adjusted his collar and said, “Allow me to introduce myself officially, I’m an Executive Officer of Germinal Organization, Heisenberg.”

Kate was very surprised.

Germinal Organization? Didn’t they leave the Western Continent? Is this so-called Heisenberg guy a secretly active executive officer, or is he lying?

“Forgive me for being so straightforward, but your identity is very suspicious.” Kate took two steps back and placed his right hand in his pocket holding the alarm. If Han Xiao made any suspicious movements, he would trigger the alarm.

“Don’t have to be so nervous, give me a moment.” Han Xiao walked into the toilet with his backpack.

Why is he going to the toilet? Just as when Kate was confused, Han Xiao walked out wearing Viper. The mechanical suit that looked highly advanced gave Kate a shock.

“Wha-what are you…”

Han Xiao swung his arms around and said through the suit’s speaker, “This is the latest single unit mechanical suit invented by the Germinal Organization. If your eyes still work, you should be able to see the amount of advanced technology used in this. Even the official experimental lab of the Six Nations doesn’t have this technology. You don’t have to worry about me lying; this is a secret project of our organization, and it should suffice to prove my identity.”

Kate opened his mouth slightly—he felt something was off. “But…”

“I am aware of your concerns. If you want to find a stamp of Germinal Organization on the mechanical suit, I suggest you save the effort. Times are very tough for us, and it is very dangerous to have a high profile. I’ve been given full responsibility for this matter, so if you want to contact a higher ranked official… Forgive me for being so straightforward, but your position doesn’t warrant that,” Han Xiao said in a serious tone. He almost believed it himself.

Kate hesitated and said, “I need to discuss with the other high ranked officials.”

He walked to the side and opened his laptop to contact the other high ranked officials. They were all experiment lab supervisors, and they were surprised by Han Xiao’s origins.

“He can’t prove it, not trustworthy.”

“Do you want him to shout ‘I’m part of the Germinal Organization’ everywhere he goes? I think there’s no need for him to lie. We will know if he’s the real deal when we make the trade.”

“Makes sense to me.”

“But cooperating with the Germinal Organization seems somewhat dangerous…”

Han Xiao cut in their conversation and said, “Any trade we make will be kept confidential. As long as you and I don’t tell anyone, no one will know. We can even give you some financial support to build new divisions in Andrea.”

The eyes of all the high ranked officials in the research lab turned bright. Andrea was filled with radiation, and many genes mutated flora and fauna avoided by others were treasures to them. They had heard about the generosity of Germinal Organization. In Maple, the government was corrupt, and they had just about had enough of it. It seemed like a rather good plan to change the environment.

Even if they did not move their headquarters, opening a research division in Andrea was a pretty good idea, too.

“Shall we try to make a deal?”

“Bring him to the exhibition room.”

With the discussion coming to an end, Kate smiled and said, “We accept the trade, Heisenberg. Please follow me. I will show you our research results.”

Han Xiao nodded. Without taking off the mechanical suit, he followed Kate into the lift, and they descended two floors.

The drugs exhibition room looked like cold storage from outside the door. Kate entered the password, and the doors slid open. Inside was a dark compounded room separated into two levels connected by a metal staircase. Showcases were laid out at the side of the walls, and inside them were drug tubes of various colors with tags describing their names and test results. All the drugs had finished products with different levels of concentration.

“These are the products of our research institution. Which ones does your organization want?” Kate said with a smile.

Han Xiao acted like he was looking around and said, “Every one of them. Money is not a problem… as long as you have enough in stock.”

Joy filled the faces for the high ranked officials who were watching through the camera—this was a big order.

Han Xiao raised his eyebrows. “But I will have to verify their effects first.”

Kate opened the showcase’s password lock, took out a drug, and passed it to Han Xiao. Han Xiao read the information on the interface. It was a temporary enhancement drug; consuming it would grant a +3 Endurance buff for three minutes.

After making sure all the drugs in these showcases were real, Han Xiao calmly said, “I will need a large quantity.”

Kate received commands through the headphones. He took out a laptop, opened the price page, and said with a smile, “We have enough inventory. After you have made the payment, these cute little things will be yours.”

Han Xiao narrowed his eyes. “I will only make payment when I see the products with my own eyes.”

“Don’t have to worry, we are just a small organization, and we don’t have the guts to go against a large organization like yours. We won’t go back on our word, and we hope you understand our concerns. Anyway, I believe this is an insignificant amount of money for your organization,” Kate said with a smile on his face.

Seems like this is as far as I can get by lying. Han Xiao’s eyes flashed. He had no intention of paying. He placed the gun against Kate’s forehead before he could react and said, “This is my payment.”

Pa!

The laptop fell onto the ground with a bang.

The threatening feel from the gun muzzle made Kate tremble all over. “You are a fake!”

Han Xiao did not reply. He fired at the showcase, but the glass was bulletproof; it only cracked but did not shatter.

Far away in the surveillance room, the high ranked officials were shocked.

“He wants to rob our finished products.”

“Luckily, we brought him to the exhibition room where there are security systems!”

The metal door of the exhibition room shut tight, and the showcases moved back into the walls, leaving no traces behind. The room became empty, and the ceiling moved aside, revealing three rows of guns who range covered the entire room. Han Xiao and Kate were both under the guns,

The proud voice of a high ranked official sounded from the speaker.

“Didn’t expect that, did you? We were suspicious of your origins from the start. Now that your life is under our control, you have no escape. We just have to press a button, and you will be dead. Unless you want to know how many seconds it will take for these guns to turn you into a puddle of blood, put down the guns, take off the mechanical suit, and get down to your knees. Then tell us your true identity, origin, and who sent you. ”

The superiors of the research institution were very angry. They felt like the man had thought them foolish monkeys, but the liar had walked into their trap.

How dare he come to mess with us without knowing who owns this territory.

In the exhibition room, Kate calmly backed off, adjusted his clothes, and looked at Han Xiao haughtily. “If you move, such as wanting to capture me as a hostage, you will be turned into a pool of blood, so don’t have any ideas of taking the risk. Just put down the gun and surrender; you can still live.”

Han Xiao looked up at the dark black guns. The cameras were in the corners of the room, and the high ranked officials were looking at him through those. He even knew that the vents could release poisonous gas.

With a cold expression, he issued a voice command.

“Launch program.”

The smart chip in the mechanical suit immediately recognized the command and connected to the standby computer. It then entered the research institution’s intranet and activated the hacking program planted by Han Xiao the previous night.

The research institution’s system fell like dominoes in the face of the hacking program. Without much effort, the entire authority system was overridden, and Han Xiao gained control in a few seconds.

This was not a last-minute simple hacking program that Han Xiao had created; he had created many smart chips, and to prevent losing their control to someone else, he had also made some anti-attack programs as well as some invasive programs, but he had not had the chance to use them before.

The tactical hologram screen showed the terrain map of the research institution. Han Xiao issued another voice command. The walls of the exhibition room reopened, and the showcases appeared again. The guns on the ceilings slid back, and the doors opened.

When he invaded the research institution system yesterday, he had already seen the structure of it, and he knew the security measures clearly. There are some tightly guarded warehouses in the research institution with a high amount of drug inventories, but it was much more than he could carry—the amount in the exhibition room was just right.

The sudden turning of tables left the high ranked officials of the research institution horrified.

“What happened? The system has lost control!”

“Quick, take back the control!”

The technician at the side was sweating all over. He smashed the keyboard rapidly, and lines of code kept appearing. Suddenly, his screen turned green, and the computer froze. The technician exclaimed, “I can’t. The invasion speed of his program is too fast; it’s impossible to solve it in a short time!”

“He was ready yesterday!” The high ranked officials were filled with hatred.

In the exhibition room, Kate was stunned. He looked into the Han Xiao’s black goggles, and fear gnawed at his heart. His legs softened, and he fell to the ground. ‘I-I…”

Bang!

Smoke rose from the ground between his legs where the bullet had hit.

Kate was extremely afraid, not even daring to move.

“Stay there and don’t move. You can still live,” Han Xiao said in a mocking tone.

“O-Okay, calm down,” Kate replied hastily as cold sweat wet his entire back. He could only sit there and tremble.

Han Xiao broke open all the showcase cabinets. The enhancement from the mechanical suit made his punches stronger than bullets. He took out his backpack and put all the vials inside. Soon, his backpack was full.

He patted his bag with satisfaction. It was a huge amount of rewards.

At the start, he had no intention of robbing the research institution. However, that changed when he accidentally overheard Kate and the high ranked official talking about Yang Dian and Ned. Since the research institution was not one with morals, Han Xiao did not bother to do things the nice way. They neither were good people anyways, so they might as well follow the rules of the wicked—whoever was stronger had the right to take from the weaker side.

If the opposite party had reliable morals and beliefs, Han Xiao would not mind interacting with them normally, but if they made Han Xiao unhappy and were not strong enough, Han Xiao would go back to his old habits when he was a player, robbing whatever he saw. Furthermore, he was very interested in the Research Institution’s drugs. He actually liked to convince people with his virtues… but if that did not work out, he would then fight them instead.

Although Han Xiao did not like the idea of sacrificing oneself for the sake of others and wasn’t like those superheroes who had a great love for the entire world, he still liked people who were kind. Befriending a kind person was definitely better than befriending an evil person. Even those who were evil would rather befriend those who were kind; it was safe and worry-free.

Unfortunately, the number of kind people in the world was dwindling. No one could tell if a smile had ulterior motives behind it or which ‘brother’ seemed to be loyal on the surface but talked bad about them behind their back. Betrayal was common, even between old friends.

Kind people were such rare animals that they could even be placed in the zoo as an exhibit. Zoo might not be the best term—’News Feed’ would be a better description. The research institution toyed with the ‘heroes’, and it was because of these snobbery hypocrites that kind people became fewer, society became harder to survive in, and spiritual traditions collapsed entirely.

Very often, one’s perseverance in others’ eyes was just the minimum of what one should do. One’s hard work was just a way of gaining more profit. Just like how the Louis Research Institution used the passion of Yang Dian and Ned, Han Xiao robbed the research institution’s hard work.

An old saying appeared in Han Xiao’s mind. “Karma will find its way. Wickedness will be dealt with by the wicked.”

“Looks like I’ve become wicked.” Han Xiao laughed. An opportunity to do bad things without feeling guilty did not come by often.

Why would he spend money on someone he could rob from? He could just change his face and become a new customer anyway.

It was not the time to check through his rewards. He picked up his backpack and walked toward the lift.

Kate’s body was still soft. He let out a sigh of relief as he saw Han Xiao leaving, but the fear was still lingering in his mind.

The high ranked officials in the surveillance room were bleeding in their hearts when they saw all the drugs being taken. One of them yelled in anger, “Quickly think about what can we do!”

“I got it. Ask the switchboard room to cut off all electricity in the basement and trap him in there!”

“Immediately seek help from Maple! We still have some guards. Gather them all at the main gate. We just have to stall him for fifteen minutes until the military force arrives, and I want him to be demolished then!”

As Han Xiao arrived at the lift, the entire floor’s lights turned off. He raised his eyebrows and switched to night vision. Cutting off the power, as expected.

Han Xiao’s legs bent as the power from nanotechnology muscle fiber gathered in his legs and burst in an instant. The floor cracked open, and he shot through the ceiling like a rocket.

After two jumps, Han Xiao bumped straight into the hall. A group of guards who were gathering came into his sights. There were only some twenty of them, not even one-fifth of the research institution’s guards. Han Xiao’s way of going up the floors was way too swift and violent. It didn’t give much time for the research institution to react.

The high ranked officials were shocked by the power of the mechanical suit. They hurriedly ordered the guards to attack.

“Stall the enemy. The rest of the guards will be here in less than twenty seconds… f*ck!”

Before he could even finish giving the order, Han Xiao bumped through the guards like a bowling ball hitting a strike and sent them flying. The guards could not even slow him down as he broke through the glass door and disappeared in the streets. The people there could only catch a tint of black shadow.

The high ranked officials of the research institution were raging with anger, they were hopeful that the guards could at least stall him for fifteen minutes, but they barely could for three seconds.

Seeing the drugs would not able to be retrieved, the superiors’ hearts were bleeding, and they were furious.

“When will the Maple Military arrive?”

“At least ten minutes.”

“That’s too long. That asshole would’ve been long gone. Is there any other way?”

Kate had returned to normal and immediately said, “The superhero duo is still in the city. I will contact them now!”

“Hurry up!”

Yang Dian received a phone call from Kate. Confused, he asked, “Mr. Kate, are you looking for us?”

Kate sounded anxious. “A robber has taken the products of the research institution, including the oppressor for the Death Virus. If we can’t retrieve it, our results will be lost. Since the military can’t make it in time, we have to count on you guys!”

The duo turned serious. “We will definitely help.”

“That’s great. You’re our only hope. I’ll send you the coordinates. The enemy is a man wearing a black mechanical suit!”

Black mechanical suit‽

Yang Dian and Ned’s expressions changed.

“Could it be him‽”

…

Running on the street wearing a mechanical suit was too flashy. As soon as Han Xiao left the research institution, he climbed onto the rooftop of a building and continued running across rooftops. That way, even if someone saw him, it would not cause as great an impact. He was planning to find a hidden spot to take off the mechanical suit and change to a different face.

So many drug potions, enough for me to drink it like water. Han Xiao laughed.

After turning into a few streets, Han Xiao jumped into an empty alley. It was at this moment that two strong vital signs showed up on the radar, and after the automated search in the database, it surprisingly had a match. It turned out to be the two superheroes that he had met twice.

They’re chasing me? Han Xiao thought for a while, and he knew that they were being toyed with by Louis Research Institution again.

This time, a notice popped up on the interface.

_____________________

You have triggered mission [Trial of a Hero]

Mission Introduction: Heroes of justice are never in short supply, but only the right ways to do it. Some people become depraved and give up their initial goals; some lose their adherence and become what they swore to fight against; some are used and lied to. Choosing justice is a tough path, and you can be the trial for them to find the right path toward becoming a real hero.

Mission Requirements: Defeat Yang Dian and Ned, and expose the truth about Louis Research Institution.

Rewards: Random

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Han Xiao narrowed his eyes.

He was quite interested in this mission. It was a chance for him to feel what it was like to be the ultimate evil.

Han Xiao analyzed the data.

I’ve got a few minutes to kill, just enough time to play with them a little.

Han Xiao stopped in place and waited. Yang Dian and Ned’s figures flashed past the alley entrance not long after—they ran too far. After a few seconds, the duo realized and immediately turned back, standing at the alley entrance with a confronting stance.

“It really is you!” Yang Dian’s face was stern. He had seen the power of this mysterious warrior in the mechanical suit with his own eyes. Even in his peak state, he would probably be beaten in a few punches, and he was now injured. But the thought of Han Xiao robbing the cure to the Death Virus encouraged him to not back up even if he could not win.

Ned rubbed his hands and was ready to strike. He said in a low tone, “Even though you saved us before, I’m afraid we can’t let you take the cure.”

Cure? Damn these guys really are the type that are stupid enough to help someone who cheated them.

Ned struck first. His hands slapped forward, and a shockwave filled the alley. The paint on the walls shed, and cracks appeared on the ground.

In a flash, Han Xiao jumped up, drawing a swift arc midair, and bumped toward the enemy like a rocket.

Yang Dian bit his teeth and stepped forward, swinging out his punch.

Bang!

The mechanical suit covered fist was like a bolt of lightning, appearing and disappearing in an instant. Before Yang Dian’s fist could even swing fully, it had already hit Yang Dian’s chest heavily. Yang Dian’s vision turned hazy; everything in sight seemed to move away rapidly as he flew backwards. He then got punched into the wall with a loud noise, every bone in the body almost shattering.

One-hit victory.

His physical power is even stronger than the lion who caused serious injury to me.Yang Dian barely pulled himself out of the wall and breathed heavily. Suddenly, he heard a gust of wind around his ears, Ned was thrown toward him and fell beside his feet with a huge bump on his head. He had been knocked dizzy by a simple headbutt from Han Xiao.

They could not even last three seconds. With absolutely zero chance to fight back, Yang Dian was filled with sadness and hatred. How are we supposed to stop the opponent like this?

Helplessness penetrated their hearts.

Han Xiao looked at the timer as he saw the duo trying to get back up. He had given himself five minutes to deal with these two superheroes, but the situation had turned out to be much easier. He had taken less than ten seconds to beat them completely.

They were both Superhumans at the level of thirty-something. With Han Xiao’s strength, it was a piece of cake.

Han Xiao took a few steps forward. Just as he was going to say something, Yang Dian managed to struggle to his feet. With a face filled with unyielding and anger, he clenched his teeth and said, “You took away the cure for the Death Virus. Lots and lots of people will die because of that. I will stop you today even if it costs me my life!”

Han Xiao stopped in place. He looked at Yang Dian with a mocking smile. “Dying as a hero—other than dead flowers, empty words, and a few hypocritical tears, what else can you get?”

Yang Dian clenched his teeth even harder. “It doesn’t matter how others look at me as long as I’m happy with what I’m doing!”

Suddenly, Yang Dian blinked. A large, black hand enlarged in his sight and grabbed his head. He was smashed into a wall, shattering the stones.

His head was bleeding, Yang Dian lay flat on the ground, his head spinning. He did not even have the strength to stand up.

Han Xiao took out his handgun and pressed it against Yang Dian’s forehead.

The black colored muzzle brought Yang Dian back to his senses. He wanted to struggle, but Han Xiao stepped on his legs, then slowly applied pressure to the trigger.

Yang Dian’s eyes widened. At this moment, regret uncontrollably flooded his mind.

If I wasn’t so meddlesome, I wouldn’t die today. In front of an enemy that’s this strong, even if I bet my life on it, I wouldn’t be able to stop him for a bit. Coming here was just giving my life away. I shouldn’t have accepted the request. I was too impulsive…

Ka!

The trigger reached its end. Yang Dian’s entire body trembled, only to realize that he did not feel any pain. He was stunned as he watched Han Xiao back off. Then he realized that cold sweat had drenched all his clothes. Although he could not see his own face, he knew that it was definitely a twisted expression filled with fear, regret, and unwillingness.

“What were you thinking just now?” Han Xiao said.

Yang Dian froze in place but kept silence. In the face of death, the belief that he had once thought would never be destroyed was shaken. He was not as generous and tough as he said at all. Instead, at that moment, it was regret he felt, and he even thought that giving up his life for a request from others was extremely stupid. Yet before this event, he had always been working hard toward the goal of being a superhero—he wanted to save more people; he wanted to protect more civilians; he wanted to sacrifice himself for others.

But at this moment, Yang Dian only felt lost.

Han Xiao put his handgun with the empty clip back to the holster, took out a laptop, transferred some data to a thumb drive, and threw it to Yang Dian.

Yang Dian and Ned froze in place.

The enemy left just like that?

“Why did he not kill us?” Yang Dian held the thumb drive in a daze.

“We are no match for him. Don’t go up to him and look for death. We have to leave here first.” Yang Dian held onto Ned, and they left limping.

Another mission failure, the duo’s hearts were filled with shame. They could not face Kate. When they arrived at Louis Research Institution’s door, the military was already there, and the area was locked down. The duo did not want to come into contact with the Maple Military, so they went back to the place where they rested and dressed their wounds.

Yang Dian kept thinking about what Han Xiao had said. He was confused and could not focus at all. He lay on bed dazed, the thoughts from just now flashing in his mind non-stop. He could feel that his belief and perspective of being a superhero were shaken; it was a war against his own mind.

At this time, Ned could not hold back his curiosity of what was inside the thumb drive. He plugged it into the laptop, and only a few seconds of looking at it made him break out in cold sweat.

“Yang, come here and look at this!”

“What is it?” Yang Dian tried to regain his focus and went up to the laptop screen. Then he, too, was stunned.

The files on the thumb drive were a part of the data that Han Xiao had gotten from hacking into the research institution. Every research project of the Death Virus was clearly written to be regarding enhancing physical abilities and biochemistry weapons. There was no mention of the cure Kate talked about.

It was also written that the exploration team that had gone into the Robert Forbidden Zone had been gathering materials for physical ability enhancements research.

“Th-this is real? Could he be lying?”

“He could have killed us easily. Why would he lie to us?”

Yang Dian and Ned slowly turned from consternation to rage.

It turned out that they were like two idiots from the start to the end, toyed with by the people of Louis Research Institution. They could not believe that they were so naive to have believed the one-sided words of these people; it made them feel like their persistence was nothing but a joke.

No wonder the mysterious warrior in the mechanical suit did not kill them; he probably felt that they were pathetic and pitiful, so he told them the truth.

Yang Dian was so ashamed and embarrassed that he wanted to dig a hole in a ground and hide in it.

They kept calling themselves superhero, but they were saved by a stranger who they deemed wicked twice! If the mysterious man had not exposed the truth, they would still have been totally in the dark.

“Too bad we don’t know his name. If we did, l definitely would apologize to him in person.” Ned was upset.

Yang Dian nodded heavily. With raging anger burning inside, he called Kate. “You have been lying to us!”

Kate sounded stunned. “What did I lie about?”

“You have been using us. You made us risk our lives to do things for you. The exploration team, the cure to the virus, that was all fake!”

“What are you talking about? Why would I do that? You are overthinking this.” Kate’s made an unnatural pause.

“I have evidence. The research of the Death Virus has nothing to do with saving lives!” Yang Dian said.

“That’s fake. You guys must’ve heard rumors,” Kate replied

“Still lying to us‽” Yang Dian was angry, he then stated the project serial number.

The other side of the phone remained silent for a while, then Kate replied in a cold tone—he gave up pretending. “So what? What do you want to do, or rather, what can you do?”

“I…” Yang Dian was furious, but he suddenly jammed.

“Humph, Superhero!” Kate’s tone was full of sarcasm as he hung up the call.

Yang Dian held the phone and froze in place. His aura was changing quickly.

Ned suddenly felt a chill. He quickly asked, “Are you alright?”

Yang Dian shook his head and put down the phone. “I’m alright, Why wouldn’t I be? Hehe.”

He laughed inexplicably.

…

The research institution was in a mess. The high ranked officials were sweating all over as they negotiated with the military.

Kate was annoyed. He did not expect things to have turned out this way when he lured the wolf into the room. No one had dared to mess with the research institution before. They had many financial organizations behind them, and anyone who stroked the tiger’s beard would face its wrath—they would be chased down by organizations with no escape.

After contacting the financial organizations backing them, the organizations were all understandably furious. He called himself Germinal Organization’s executive officer Heisenberg, and he had a mechanical suit with extremely advanced technology—it was quite convincing. The Germinal Organization was like a mouse crossing the street. Everyone wanted to beat them. It would not matter how many enemies they made, and it was very possible that they were throwing the helve after the hatchet.

The financial organizations decided to not only let Western Continent’s Intelligence organizations look thoroughly for this person, but they were also going to give money to the Six Nation’s expedition through military donations.

The reason behind these financial organizations having such an exaggerated reaction was because there were drugs that the owners of these organizations urgently needed among the stolen stock. Therefore, they desperately needed it back even if it meant they had to spend more money!

Kate was already annoyed enough. He did not even want to bother about the questioning from the two superheroes, and he did not care at all about them finding out the truth.

Because superheroes would never take revenge for such small matter

Thus, Kate was calmed and had nothing to fear.

…

Han Xiao had taken off the mechanical suit, changed his face and mixed into the crowd.

_____________________

[Trial of a Hero] completed!

+40 Yang Dian’s Impression of You, +40 Ned’s Impression of You.

_____________________

Han Xiao waited for some time, but there were no new notifications. That’s it? What do I need the good impression from these two guys for?

He had never even heard of these two guys before, so they were probably not anyone important.

Han Xiao was speechless. It was a reasonable reward, but he would have even preferred experience points over this.

Never mind, it’s just a small mission. The biggest rewards are these drugs.

Han Xiao chuckled as he looked down at the bulging package in his hands.

When he stole… that’s wrong, when he requisitioned the drugs, Han Xiao took everything in the exhibition room of Louis Research Institution, which was almost every type of drug.

He found a random small hotel and checked in. As usual, he first checked to see if there were surveillance cameras, then he opened his backpack and took out all the various drugs before arranging them in rows.

Let’s see if there’s any good stuff. Han Xiao rubbed his hands. He had heard that one would be lucky if one’s hands were heated.

_____________________

Green Lizard Drug (Medium Concentration 23.3%): Made from the Green Lizard Genes. This is a lazy being. After you drink this, you will feel calm.

_____________________

Han Xiao stunned for three seconds. Then he stood up in rage and threw it on the floor.

Green my ass, what’s the point of even inventing this kind of drug! I would’ve been luckier if I used my feet ¹ !

Looking at this pile of colorful drugs, Han Xiao felt as if a black cloud of bad luck was floating above his head.

Let’s hope the other drugs are better.

He continued searching. There was a total of 34 types of drugs, and luckily, there was not another one that was as useless as the Green Lizard drug.

Some of the useful drugs were pretty great.

There was a high concentration Death Virus Enhancement Drug, which had a much stronger effect than the one Kate gave. The permanent attribute boost was greater, and the chance to awaken the rare talent was at least three times higher.

_____________________

Wild Rhinoceros Steroid: Taken from the heart of wild rhinoceros. Injection gives +5 S trength, +5 Endurance. Lasts five minutes. Second injection within 30 minutes will have no effect.

_____________________

Thunder Claw Beast Extraction: Extracted from the bodily fluids of Thunder Claw Beasts. +12% melee attack for the next five attacks.

_____________________

Stone Plaque Pathogen: Infects the user with Stone Plaque.

_____________________

There were three types of drugs—temporary enhancement drugs, disease spreading drugs, and the very rare permanent attribute boost drugs like the Death Virus Enhancement Drug.

Some of the permanent attribute boost drugs can only be used once, and some can be used multiple times. The Eagle Predator Drug is the former, and the Death Virus Drug is the latter.

That was why players were so passionate about going to the Forbidden Zone and killing the BOSS. Usually, it would be a competition between large guilds.

_____________________

You used Eagle Predator Drug.

+3 Dexterity.

_____________________

There were four bottles of the Death Virus Drug. He took a short break and finished all of them in one shot. His Strength, Dexterity, and Endurance all increased by four, and that bottle with high concentration made him awaken the rare talent.

_____________________

[Extraordinary Physique]

+10% Health

+180% Recovery Rate

+8% Abnormalities Resistance

It was a tank biased talent, not up to the standard of being a Molding ability, but it did make Han Xiao tankier.

He recalled that Hila had a recovery passive too. Extraordinary Physique had similar effects and also gave him another 300 HP from the health boost.

As a Mechanic, is it really a good thing to be this tanky? Han Xiao did not know whether to laugh or to cry. This was forcing him to fight people head-on. He felt like if he continued like this, his style would totally shatter.

I just want to be a technical Mechanic. Close combat is for savages!

I need to find an offensive talent or manufacturing talent, but those kinds ofMolding ability are way too rare. The most common ones are still defensive and enhancement ones.

As a Mechanic, talents that could match with his firearms were what he needed the most. He had been hoping to trigger the [Lethal Shot] talent. Although it was not a Molding ability, it had rather good effects. The requirement was to deal extremely high damage with his firearm to targets that were at least the same level as him fifty times. He had already done that almost forty times, but enemies at his level were getting harder to find, he had to spend some time to do it.

As for the temporary enhancement drugs, he planned to put some of them in the mechanical suit’s rapid injection module and then find an opportunity to sell the rest, preferably to players, which would be another sum of money.

Among the drugs, surprisingly, there was one that was incomplete and only had one syringe.

_____________________

Unknown Drug: a semi-finished product of some drug, unknown effects.

_____________________

Its color was clear like water. Usually, unknown things would have surprising effects. Han Xiao had an inkling that this thing was not simple, but he would not use it when its effects were unclear.

Louis Research Institution might complete their research in the future. I will just have to go there again at some point, and I will know its effects when it’s completed.Han Xiao raised his eyebrows.

In order to make drugs or learn about magic potions, one had to gain the class [Pharmacist]. Han Xiao was not interested in making potions and wasting class slots, and he felt making potions and drugs were very different from making machines. As making potions demanded strict material ratios and manufacturing processes, a tiny mistake could cause failure, whereas making machines was just a channeling process.

Han Xiao snuck out of Kaylos in the afternoon. He had another threatening mission in Maple. Bennett wanted him to scare some government officials who lived in the capital of Maple. The two people who had gone there first to check on the situation was already at standby in the city of Maple Leaf.

The capital of Maple was called Karimochi, meaning the City of Maple Leaf.

…

The financial organizations behind Louis Research Institution issued a bounty on the Dark Net very quickly. The target was none other than ‘Heisenberg’, and it had the face that Han Xiao had used in the research institution, as well as a recording of him dashing out of the research institution wearing a mechanical suit.

The Germinal Organization saw this information very soon.

“There is no such person in our organization.”

The leader was startled. The organization only had a few deep-cover intelligence personnel and spies in other lands, and he absolutely did not order anyone to rob a civilian research institution. There was only one possibility. This ‘Heisenberg’ was a fake who used the Germinal Organization as cover.

He did not even think this was a framing act… because framing Germinal Organization was totally unnecessary. The whole world was against them, so they would not care for just one more enemy.

Since the Germinal Organization was beaten, everyone took them lightly, like a tiger without its fangs, and added insult to their injury. What kind of nobody was this Heisenberg?

What the leader focused on was the performance of the mechanical suit. To his surprise, he realized that this mechanical suit was using technology that was even more advanced than what the organization was currently working on. Even the Super Soldier project that kept having breakthroughs did not have this level of practicality.

If we can get hold of this mechanical suit, our single unit combat power will skyrocket. Which organization invented this mechanical suit? If it’s our enem y…

The leader’s hands grabbed harder onto the table edge, leaving a clear mark on the metal table. With a serious tone, he ordered, “Tell our intelligence network to pay attention secretly to the user of this mechanical suit—I want to know everything he’s doing.”

However, this was sadly the only time Han Xiao was observed using the mechanical suit. The intelligence agents of the Germinal Organization were unable to gather any more information. It was all very mysterious.

An organization that can invent such a mechanical suit definitely has very strong backing.

The leader felt like he had discovered the tip of the iceberg of some hidden organization, but they did not have any other leads, so there was nothing they could do at the moment.

He calmed his mind and asked, “How is the capturing of Inhumans going?”

The assistant took out the archives. “We have captured 2,103 Inhumans. At the start, they were gathered at a few fixed points, but afterward, they started to actively escape from the capture and spread to other areas. More and more people resisted to the capture, and our mission has been meeting some obstacles.”

“Cyberlos has come up with a new theory through observing the experiments. Even if these Inhumans are not brainwashed, they will still accept all kinds of requests, and they act with a very clear objective. They do not have much common sense, they talk weirdly, and they seem to have some kind of special way of communication between each other—some Inhumans knew each other. We are still investigating the causes of all that, but we have yet to gain any results. As Cyberlos put it, these Inhumans are like time travelers who came from the past.”

“What is the stance of the Six Nations toward the Inhumans?” the leader asked.

“Our intelligence network shows that the Six Nations have sent their own teams of people to contact the Inhumans. They had different attitudes anywhere from friendly to forceful.”

The leader nodded. After pondering a moment, he said, “They have stopped their war preparation, but it won’t be stopped forever. Agents from every country have already infiltrated Andrea, find them. I want their every move to be under our surveillance. I have a feeling that Inhumans will be the key for us in this war.”

…

Reflections on the sunglasses showed the exterior appearance of a luxurious villa. There were secret service agents in normal clothes patrolling around the area continuously. A white old man who looked like a beggar pushed his sunglasses up, touched the cap that covered his bald head, and then fidgeted with the mini earphone that was hidden under the cap in his ear.

“Duplex four-floor villa. The manor door needs the interior system to be opened. Two standard secret service teams patrolling outside the manor, one team inside, a total of eighteen secret service agents. Leaves house 8 am sharp every morning, travels in a bulletproof car. Two teams follow for protection, has lunch at the interior restaurant of the government building, the same team follows along for protection.

Hannes spoke softly into the headset as he pushed his sunglasses. “The target lives in Maple’s political area. Patrolling police and sentries are packed along the roads. If you’re doing it on the streets, you’d better be quick about it.”

The calmed voice of a woman, Vernina, was heard through the headset. “Then let’s do it on the streets. This reminds me of the old days.”

“I must be mad,” Hannes said with discontent. “Still doing things with you guys after I have retired, and it’s to kidnap a high ranked officer of Maple. Damn it Garian, why did you have to find me for this? Why didn’t you ask Bennett? He’s still fighting on the front lines. You had to look for this retired old man. Couldn’t you let me enjoy a few years of leisure!”

“Humph, you owe me a favor, and I don’t like Bennett. He gave me three bullet holes 33 years ago.” Another voice appeared in the headset. Garian was a rough man; his voice was like a cannon, “Anyway, stop complaining like some woman. Have the days of doing nothing and planting vegetation softened your toughness?”

“Gentlemen, don’t forget there’s a woman here,” Vernina said calmly.

“I am already sixty, and you are one year older than me. It’s not normal for you to think about fighting and killing all day.” Hannes was speechless.

“Humph, I’m yet to hit seventy. Is that old?” Garian whined for a while and turned back to being serious. “In nine seconds, patrolling officers will appear from the corner. Be careful to stay hidden.”

Hannes leaned forward, and his aura immediately turned unnoticeable. After nine seconds, a patrolling police officer walked around the corner of the street and saw Hannes.

He walked forward and yelled, “Identification check!”

Hannes took out the fake ID that looked exactly like a real one. The officer glanced through and returned it, “No lingering here. Move along.”

Hannes moved his feet slowly like an old man, turned into the corner, then sped up. He said softly, “There are too many patrolling police officers and sentries here. To kidnap the target quietly without anyone noticing, it’ll be best to do it at night.”

“Come back here first. We will discuss the plan,” Garian said with a heavy voice.

It was gloomy and raining in the Western Continent. After a few days of taking the shaky civilian train, Han Xiao finally arrived in the capital of Maple, the City of Maple Leaf.

Maple’s population density was low despite having a large area of land. Houses were cheap, and the average house size was rather big; even those in the middle-income bracket were able to afford a villa. The civilians in the capital had a pretty high income. Every year, the government of Maple would chase the beggars and the poor to other cities, which resulted in Maple Leaf’s environment being optimal, peaceful, and comfortable with sufficient greenery.

Han Xiao was smuggled in as usual. Following the map, he found a villa at the edge of Maple Leaf. It was a safe house that Dark Net had bought with a fake account and identity. The contact would be waiting inside.

The villa had three floors. The door was made from gray glazed wood and had exquisite carvings. Han Xiao grabbed the door knocker and thumped to the rhythm of their secret code. The door opened with a squeak, and an old female butler who had more wrinkles than an expired orange invited him in with a plain face.

After entering the house, the old woman, whose true identity was a long-term resident contact, closed the door and said, “Both guests are waiting in the basement.”

Han Xiao nodded. He opened the hidden door in the cabinet beside the staircase and walked down to the basement. It was not as dark as he had imagined it to be; it was bright and surrounded by metal walls. Many pieces of equipment and firearms lay around. There was also a specially designed lathe and a material case at the corner.

The two contacts were waiting at the meeting table in the middle. They both looked toward Han Xian. His face was changed back to Black Phantom, so he was recognized.

Of the two contacts, one was Golden Fox, and the other was a young man.

Golden Fox hesitated and said, “Black Phantom?”

Han Xiao’s eyes brightened. He laughed and said, “Oh, it’s you. I’ve seen you before. You seem to have become prettier.”

Golden Fox was frightened. She touched her face and said in her head, Please don’t be interested in me, I beg you!

The other contact was a young man in his twenties. His code name in the Blood Pact Society was ‘Ghost Blade’. He was a scorpion—lowest rank—and a new member who had only joined recently. He was staring at Han Xiao with judgement and slight doubt.

Ghost Blade had been trained as an agent in Raylen, but he had escaped before graduation. Having been trained in an agent training organization, he naturally always felt a sense of superiority toward these underground killers. He had joined the Blood Pact Society around the same time Han Xiao did, but Han Xiao was already a legend in the organization while he was still struggling in the scorpion grade. So, he had always been unconvinced.

In terms of experience, Han Xiao actually did not have much of it, but he became the ace of Blood Pact Society with his strength and Bennett backing him up. There were a small group of proud contract killers who were unconvinced—most of them had other successful experiences before they turned to become a killer. Despite the results of these battles were written clearly, there would still be people who were in doubt unless they saw it themselves.

“I heard about your battles. They say you’re a legend, but it seems like there’s nothing special,” Ghost Blade said with a plain face.

Han Xiao glanced at Ghost Blade but could not be bothered with him.

Golden Fox cut in hurriedly and started talking about the main topic. “Ahem! There are five targets: Harry Reymen, Sennin Miller, Billy Angus, Dick Van Vancity, Dorasi Farami. They are all government officials who opposed the plan. There are guards around them when they’re out and where they live.”

With a glance to Ghost Blade, he snorted, took out a map, and laid it out on the meeting table. “This is the terrain map of the target’s villa. The guarding power and the patrolling routes of police nearby are also marked out.”

The data was very detailed. Ghost Blade’s ability to collect intelligence was the textbook example that strictly followed the training booklet of Raylen. He had collected almost every detail there was in this mission. With the secret knowledge he had as an agent, Golden Fox did not need to help at all when he was gathering the data. It made him feel superior to these killers. After all, he was a pro, and amateurs were on a different level.

Ghost Blade peeked at Han Xiao. He was confident that such detailed intelligence would surprise the Black Phantom, but Han Xiao kept a straight face as if it was a common occurrence to him.

With a frown, Ghost Blade said in a deep voice, “I have designed an action plan for you. You see these red lines and marks? These are the action routes I have planned out. As long as you keep to my plan and don’t make any mistakes, you will definitely succeed. I’m assuming you understand what I wrote here. These are special symbols used by agents. If you don’t understand them, I can explain for you.

“No need, I will look at it myself.” Han Xiao knocked the table while reading through the intelligence carefully. He then asked, “What is the exact mission?”

“To place these documents into the targets’ homes, somewhere obvious that ensures the target sees them. Inside, there are some pieces of evidence that have the ability to cause them harm. As long as they realize that we can put these in their house without anyone noticing, they will know they are not safe. This will act as a threat but not cross the line,” Golden Fox said.

“I will be infiltrating. What will you guys do?”

“I am only responsible for providing intelligence. Carrying out the mission is your mission as an ace, so don’t think about seeking my help,” Ghost Blade snorted.

Golden Fox gave Ghost Blade a stare, before saying in a pleasing tone to Han Xiao, “If you need me to back you up, I can do it.”

“Never mind, there’s no need for that.” Han Xiao waved his hands. “It’s a pretty easy mission. I can do it alone.”

“It is indeed easy when you follow my plan.” Ghost Blade nodded lightly. He had actually left out some intelligence in the data. It would not affect the mission, but it would give the person carrying out the mission some slight challenges. He wanted to test out Black Phantom. Although the latter was an ace of the organization, unless he could pass the test, Ghost Blade would still maintain a cold attitude toward Black Phantom.

However, Han Xiao looked at the plan and shook his head. “The plan is too complicated. I will do it my way.”

Ghost Blade was unhappy. “This plan was made from my careful and precise research of all the intelligence we have, and you came up with a better one within a few minutes of looking at it?”

“This mission is not challenging at all for me,” Han Xiao said.

Quit messing around! Ghost Blade snorted with anger and walked away. He was very discontent that Black Phantom did not follow his plan. He was a professional, and his plan was perfect; Black Phantom had no idea of what he was looking at.

There will definitely be accidents if he doesn’t follow my plan, Ghost Blade thought. He had some dark thoughts, and he even wanted to gloat at Black Phantom’s failure. To him, not following his plan was basically screwing around. Black Phantom had better have meant what he said. If he ends up using my plan, I will only look down on him.

Han Xiao looked at his watch. “I will act tonight. You guys just have to wait.”

The two contacts were not involved in the field action, and Han Xiao did not need a supporting intelligence crew. Since it was just Han Xiao acting alone, there was no need for a headset.

“He’s only just arrived, and he is already going to act. How impulsive.” Ghost Blade shook his head. He felt this mission was most likely going to fail.

Not listening to suggestions from professionals would almost always result in failure.

…

Night arrived in no time, but clouds covered the moon. Han Xiao had changed into a black outfit. He hid whatever he was not going to need in the safehouse. Then he made sure the circuits were working and reset the password to prevent anyone from opening it. He brought along the necessary equipment and left.

At night, the streets of Maple were quite. The night wind blew past the trees and made a calming sound as fragrance from the gardens at the side of the street filled the air. There were few pedestrians on the street. In fact, those pedestrians were mostly patrolling police, which hinted at the high-pressure policies within the country and the security not being as peaceful as it looked.

Han Xiao walked past quiet streets one after another and arrived at the political area of the city. Patrols on the street became more frequent, so he hid in the shadow of an alley, observed the situation, and waited patiently.

About ten minutes later, a patrolling police officer walked toward him.

‘This is B3248. We are clear,” he said into the walkie talkie and walked toward the alley entrance. Then, he unconsciously looked into the dark alley.

A pair of arms reached out suddenly and dragged him into darkness. His yelling only lasted a mere second before it stopped.

One minute later, Han Xiao changed into the police uniform with the walkie talkie at the side of his waist. His face had changed completely—the skin mask had scanned the policeman’s face and imitated it perfectly.

Han Xiao injected sleeping medicine into the police officer and hid him in a rubbish bin in the alley. He probably would not be discovered until the next morning.

The strong sleeping medicine was not the normal kind one would find on the market but a secret recipe made by Golden Fox. She claimed that it could make a three-meter-tall elephant fall asleep in ten seconds. As for why she used an elephant to experiment, Han Xiao was confused too.

Golden Fox had the intention of endearing herself to Han Xiao by providing the sleeping medicine, but Han Xiao had a feeling that the atmosphere between him and Golden Fox was very weird. Every time their eyes met, it felt like it ignited a spark in the air. Golden Fox would shrink backward like an injured little beast and turn to look at somewhere else, not daring to look Han Xiao in the eye.

If Han Xiao did not remember giving Golden Fox a weird impression back when he was too bored, with Golden Fox acting like a young girl in love, he would have thought she wanted to do something inappropriate to him. However, he knew that she was actually afraid of him.

Han Xiao diluted the medicine so that it was not that strong. Normal people would wake up after about ten hours. He had tested it himself and was notified that one with Endurance higher than 45 would be immune to it. He had more than 80 and close to 90.

The average Endurance of a LV 55 Mechanic is around 70. Han Xiao did not exceed that by a large portion, but his health was more than 1.5 times of the same level Mechanic!

With Molding Ability [Basic Strengthened Life] and the recently awakened [Extraordinary Physique], Han Xiao’s health was an astonishing amount of about 3,400. Together with Magnetically-Controlled Retractable Armor and Viper that only a Mechanic would have, he was at the same standard as the same level BOSS.

However, this was the capital of Maple. If he was to be too high profile, he would probably not end up well, so he decided to do an ordinary infiltration like Hitman 47.

Wearing the police uniform, Han Xiao swaggered toward the villa of the first target, Sennin Miller. Trees and vegetation filled the garden on the side of the road, and branches sliced the light from street lamps into thin light curtains.

Using Night Stalker’s ability, Han Xiao entered [Stealth]. He walked around the villa and observed the cameras on the streets.

Total of three surveillance cameras looking at three different directions of the villa. They rotate at the same speed automatically… hmm? Seems like there’ll be a blind spot for a brief moment.

Han Xiao found the opportunity, but this was not written in the data. He wondered if Ghost Blade did not realize or did not write it on purpose.

In order to sneak in, I’ll first have to deal with the cameras.

Every five minutes, the cameras’ field of sight will leave a two-second blind spot, which made things much easier. There was no need to go through to trouble of accessing the circuits of the camera and invading the surveillance network. As long as he was fast enough to enter the villa, he could avoid getting caught by the cameras.

Due to the surveillance of the city not being looked at every hour of the day, a patrolling officer going missing would not be noticed immediately unless it was seen by the surveillance monitor.

He was not hoping to infiltrate perfectly without leaving any trace—all he wanted to do was complete the mission that night.

There were secret service agents standing both inside and outside of the villa, detection devices at the door, and electrical railings on the wall. But other than that, it was no different from a normal residence. The agents outside were easy to deal with—he just needed to divert their attention. However, there were also people in the manor, and he could not identify their positions with his eyes.

Han Xiao had his ways though. He put on a pair of sunglasses. They looked just like any normal sunglasses, but they actually had a portable version of the electromagnetic scanner. By clicking the mini switch on its side, the biological reaction inside the manor would appear as blurry human shaped images, which was enough to identify their location.

However, it was weird to wear a pair of sunglasses during the night. It reminded him of a scene in ‘Kung Fu Hustle’.

The officials of Maple had guards around them all day as if they were afraid of being attacked even on the streets, which was an indication of how much they were disliked by the civilians. Unlike the other five nations, which did not have this kind of measure, even the air in Maple felt pressurizing.

The cultures of various nations were different, and this protective measure of the government officials in Maple had not been there in the beginning. It happened because of the same reason that lead the government to create the policy of evicting low-class civilians in the capital—the ‘Ulrich Assault’, the government assault event that everyone in Maple knew but was afraid to talk about. It happened in the 11th year of the new era of the Six Nations. Han Xiao had seen this segment of history in the Dark Net history events.

Every civilization in Galaxy had some history that was worth digging for. However, in the case of Maple, whether in his previous or current life, Han Xiao did not know much about it.

These thoughts flashed passed as he was in the middle of the mission, then he continued to think about the infiltration plan.

The secret service agents patrolling the villa had looked like they should not be messed with. Han Xiao put down a Spider Detector and observed from a hidden corner. If he himself passed by the villa too many times, it would have raised suspicions.

He found an opportunity very soon. The second a blind spot appeared between the field of vision of the secret service agents and the cameras. He activated his Electromagnetic Hover-boots and slid over the wall without a sound, smoothly landing behind a tree in the manor.

Although he controlled his movements as much as he could, the leaves still shook a little. A highly alert secret agent hiding below the tree notices the movement and immediately looked up.

Han Xiao had a plan the moment he jumped in. Without any hesitation, when the secret service agent was carefully looking up with squinting eyes, Han Xiao moved like a phantom with his more than 100 points of Dexterity and appeared from behind the tree. He covered the secret service agent’s mouth and injected a syringe. Before the secret service agent could struggle, he was already quiet.

It did not make a loud noise, but there was another agent not far away that saw his friend leaving the position in the edge of his vision. Fortunately, Han Xiao was too fast for him to see.

“Seeley?” The agent called his friend’s name quietly and walked over.

Shit, Han Xiao thought. Traditional infiltration was all about timing. He kept his nerves tight at all times and came up with a solution very soon. He quickly scanned the face of the agent he knocked out and changed into his face. He walked out from behind the tree and shook his head, signaling that everything was fine.

“What were you doing behind the tree?” The agent who had walked over loosened his alert as he saw his friend. He continued to close in, wanting to know what happened behind the tree.

Han Xiao flipped his hands and a tiny handgun appeared. It shot a syringe out quietly and hit the neck of the secret service agent. The agent’s footsteps became unstable as he was falling asleep. Han Xiao immediately dashed forward and held him up. Then he carefully dragged the man behind the tree.

There were four patrols in the manor. They contacted each other with walkie talkie constantly, so within a few seconds, the others would realize two of their colleagues had lost contact.

I’ve got to knock out all the patrols, Han Xiao thought. The secret service agents inside and outside were two different teams, and they only contacted each other once in a while. Removing the external agents would give him about half an hour, which was enough time for him to act.

Han Xiao moved quickly and quietly like a cat. The other two patrolling agents were knocked out in no time. They were just well trained normal elites, so they could not resist Han Xiao at all.

After making sure the patrols were cleared, Han Xiao entered the Villa from the window. He turned on the electromagnetic sunglasses, and the villa’s structure was presented clearly before his eyes. The bald official was sleeping while hugging his young and beautiful wife in the master bedroom, and there was a maid sleeping in another room. In such a big house, there were only three people.

Han Xiao found his way to the study. He took out the document that had evidence collected by the Dark Net and placed it in an obvious position on the table. One target was completed.

“I shall not delay. There’s still some time till Maple finds out someone has sneaked in. I have to speed up.” Han Xiao swiftly sneaked out of the manor. The secret service agents that were guarding outside were still doing their job, not knowing what had happened inside.

Han Xiao infiltrated three more targets’ villas. The guards were all different from each other, but with his LV 55 senses and intelligence provided by Golden Fox and Ghost Blade, together with his skin mask and Electromagnetic Hover-boots, the action was carried out rather smoothly without many hiccups.

A small accident happened at the third target. When Han Xiao was placing the document in the study, probably due to the target being too old, he woke up quivering and wanted to pass by the study. Han Xiao hastily hid behind the floor lamp in the corner.

Without looking closely, floor lamps would usually be mistaken as a person and be ignored unconsciously. Although it was a very daring spot to hide, Han Xiao thought it was a brilliant idea. However, the result was completely different from what he expected.

Having woken up in the middle of the night, wanting to go to the bathroom, already being scared while walking in the dark corridor, the old man passed by the book room and mistook the floor lamp for a person, which made him even more nervous. When he wanted to take a closer look and assure himself that he was just being scared of nothing, he noticed… Holy shit! There actually is someone behind the lamp!

The target was an elderly man. He covered his chest and fell straight down.

_____________________

You have killed Dick Van Vancity (Lv5). You have received 1 Experience.

_____________________

The target was scared to death… to death… death…

Fu*k! Seriously‽

Han Xiao was completely stunned.

I didn’t kill anyone! You suffered from myocardial infarction, I’m innocent!

“Hey, grandpa, wake up. You still have so much youth to look forward to. How can you die like this?” Han Xiao shook the old man’s shoulders continuously, almost shattering his bones.

Accidentally killed the target, what now?

Han Xiao had a headache.

Suddenly, he had a flash of insight, and he had a new idea.

Wait a minute, the fundamental purpose of this mission is to reduce the number of officials that are opposing the project. If they all die, there will be nobody opposing.

…

“Ah-choo!”

Bennett, who was far away at Southern Continent, suddenly sneezed. He had a bad premonition.

“Flu?”

One of the targets died, but the mission did not fail, which meant that killing was technically allowed.

Such an immoral mission. Han Xiao shook his head. He carried the dead body of the old man and put it into the cabinet. The longer it stays hidden the better it is.

He did not want to kill. The targets were all officials of a rather high rank, and killing them would cause a storm in Maple. Thus, there were no benefits, only risks.

One official had died, but it was an accident. They could not count him responsible.

Only one target was left, Dorasi Farami. He had the highest rank of all five targets. His manor was bigger, and the guarding power was stronger.

Han Xiao followed the same steps—he sneaked into the manor through the blind spot and hid in the shadows. None of the patrols could escape his sights.

He sneaked behind an agent and injected a syringe into his neck, then he dragged him further into the garden and changed into his clothes and face. He looked at his identification; the unlucky person this time was called Anguston.

Dorasi’s manor was rather huge. As Han Xiao was going to enter through the window from the back of the villa, the villa’s lights turned on. A command from a superior appeared from walkie talkie.

“All units assemble. Escort the target to the government building.”

All the secret service agents gathered. Now Han Xiao was stuck in a passive position. He replaced Anguston and had to continue playing the character if he did not want to get found out. Left with no choice, he followed the secret service team and assembled in front of the villa door.

The team leader knocked the door and yelled, “Mr. Dorasi, knocked out agents have been found in other officials’ mansions. The enemy infiltrated their homes. You’re not safe here. Please follow us to the government building and take refuge.”

Han Xiao realized it was about time for Maple to have reacted to the people that he knocked out in the previous mansions.

Too bad, just a while more I would’ve completed the last one. Han Xiao sighed. He had to change his plans because of the sudden change of situation. He hoped they would find out later about the old man who was shoved into the cabinet.

The glazed wooden door opened with a squeak. An old man with a straight back in formal wear walked out the door. The wrinkles on his face were like knife scars with vicissitudes and coldness, and his white hair was combed neatly.

Secret service agents surrounded Dorasi as they walked toward the car parked at the door. There were four cars. The one that Dorasi would be sitting in was in the middle, guarded by the three other cars in a triangle shape. Han Xiao sat in the car at the right rear.

As they departed, Han Xiao decided to stay put and observe since it was the best choice.

I could sneak out in the middle of the trip and complete the last mission on the way.

As he was thinking, a few fist-sized shadows flew toward the convoy. Han Xiao knew these were howitzers from one look.

Boom!

The howitzers landed accurately on the chassis of the convoys and exploded. The power exceeded the usual standard, almost like a mini rocket launcher.

Sky-high flames lit up the night. The three guarding vehicles spun in midair and landed bottom up with flames.

“Someone attacked the convoy!” the driver of Dorasi’s car yelled as he hastily stepped on the throttle, wanting to escape with speed, but a few rounds of bullets shot out from the dark and busted the wheels.

The car swirled and stopped at the side of the road. Four disgraced secret service agents got out of the car hurriedly, but before they could even raise their guns, sniper bullets shot from a higher up position hit their chests without missing a shot. They immediately fell to the ground, critically injured.

“All the guards have been dealt with. Backup from Maple will take at least three minutes to arrive. We have more than enough time. Vernina, evacuate with the target,” Hannes said through the walkie talkie.

At the junction of street lamps and darkness, the outline of a woman became clearer. Vernina appeared, holding a grenade launcher. She had short, blonde hair. The wrinkles at the side of her eyes showed she was not very young, but her appearance still had the signs of her beauty when she was younger. Every move she made played the rhyme of a mature lady.

Dorasi walked out of the car. He remained calm and looked at the struggling guards on the floor. “Who are you people?”

Vernina slowly walked toward Dorasi while taking out her handgun and killing the guards on the way. She took out a sedative syringe from her tactical pouch on her waist and said, “Put the gun down, or there’ll be a hole in your heart.”

Dorasi’s expression changed. He looked down and saw a red dot on his chest where his heart was. He immediately loosened his grip on the handgun behind his back. Looking up, he could see a looming red dot from a sniper scope on a high rise building.

At a window in the building, Hannes was holding a sniper rifle, providing ranged back up and controlling the situation from above.

“Seems like I have no choice.” Dorasi raised his hands with a long face and walked toward Vernina.

Bang!

Suddenly, an overturned burning car’s door flew off. A pair of hands grabbed the door frame and tore it with a piercing sound. Han Xiao walked out as he stretched his neck; his body was hurting all over from the crash.

Having been blown away by a howitzer out of nowhere, he was in a bad mood.

“There’s still an alive one?” Vernina turned around and fired at Han Xiao without changing her expression. Han Xiao reacted quickly. the Magnetically-Controlled Retractable Armor wrapped around his body as the howitzer hit him, and he was devoured by the flames.

Vernina thought that was more than enough to deal with the tiny fish that slipped through the net, but after the smoke disappeared, Han Xiao was still standing there, staring at her coldly. The expression in his eyes made her nervous.

In her career of battling through the ages, she had fought all kinds of strong enemies and developed a sharp intuition that could quickly identify the strength of the enemy. She could tell from just one look that these were the eyes of a predator!

Han Xiao had a horrible expression on his face when saw the information on the interface. The enemy was called Vernina. She was an astonishing LV 60 Cannon Master, which was the limit of version 1.0, someone who was at the top of the pyramid on Planet Aquamarine!

This was the second person after Bennett on Planet Aquamarine that was at the maximum level! But she didn’t have as many Molding Abilities as Bennett.

Vernina… the name sounds familiar, Han Xiao thought.

For such a high-level person to attack an official of Maple, there was definitely some hidden agenda. Han Xiao was involved by accident, but he did not want to be meddlesome, so he admitted his unluckiness.

Just as Han Xiao turned around, wanting to leave the place with his Hover-boots, Vernina fired again.

Clunk!

A howitzer hit Han Xiao at the back of his head and exploded on the armor, pushing him forward.

Han Xiao stopped in place immediately.

The next monument, the armor wrapped around his entire body. Han Xiao turned around and dashed toward Vernina. He pulled out the retractable knife and dished out a quick stab!

The Electromagnetic Hover-boots were at full power, so the speed of his dash was like a bullet.

Vernina hastily held up her grenade launcher as a shield.

Screech!

The dark black blade penetrated the grenade launcher. It cut the complicated mechanical structure inside and pierced into Vernina’s abdomen, causing blood to drip onto the ground.

Han Xiao’s hands let go of the blade, and he launched his fist toward Vernina’s temple. She hastily raised her arms to block. As the fist and her arm clashed, she felt an irresistible force of strength that hit her head across her bones. She then felt pain on her lower abdomen as Han Xiao kicked it.

“You forced me to do this!” Han Xiao gnashed his teeth.

I don’t want to bother with you, and now you’re taking it for granted!

After taking a few ruthless shots, he was furious!

Having been hit two times consecutively, Vernina was extremely shocked. She had thought that this agent was just a fish that slipped through the next, but it turned out to be an enormous shark!

She was a legend in the old era, and now she was suppressed by an enemy that she had never heard about‽

The opponent seemed to have the intention of escaping a few moments ago and looked like he did not want to be involved but was pissed off by her two shots. Vernina was filled with regret. A slip of the hand had resulted in a confrontation with such a strong enemy, but it was not her fault. The intelligence showed that the guards of Dorasi were all normal civilians, so she never could have guessed that one of them had been replaced with Han Xiao. She was truly unlucky.

He’s not Pugilist, and not an Esper either; he’s a Mechanic? Vernina was stunned, and she distanced herself hurriedly. Firearms were extremely powerful in her hands; even Mag from before would have to admit his defeat.

Han Xiao did not intend to engage in a shoot-out. He did not bring sniper for this mission, only two Berserk Eagles and some small machines. Thus, he chose close range combat by using Hover-boots to close their difference in swiftness and then suppress the opponent with his Strength. The Dexterity of Vernina was high, but Han Xiao had an advantage in Strength.

Also, flighting Vernina at a close range would make the sniper cautious and hesitant to shoot.

The interface shows that Hannes was LV 60, too. Han Xiao realized that things were more complicated than he had initially thought. Two people at the maximum level in version 1.0 appearing at the same time definitely meant something significant—it might trigger a hidden storyline. Furthermore, these two people’s names sounded familiar, but Han Xiao could not remember at the time.

Han Xiao just wanted to focus on the mission from Bennett and make sure to complete it without any interference, but he was dragged into this matter, and being hit without fighting back was not his style.

Han Xiao dragged the battle to a close-range fight. Although Vernina was a Cannon Master, the level of her [Agent] sub class was very high, which meant she was not completely vulnerable in close combat. They exchanged blows again and again. Han Xiao was at an advantage because of his Strength. He would never hold back because of the opponent’s identity, gender, or age, so Vernina was at quite a disadvantage.

Both of their physical abilities exceeded normal people, a swing of their hands was more than enough to break apart bricks and penetrate through iron plates. The environment around them was destroyed, and the ground became full of pits. There was even an overturned car that Han Xiao had kicked away toward the tree—it was a mess. Dorasi stood by the side, not daring to escape because of the sniper.

Dorasi felt stupid. He had no idea there was such a strong superhuman hiding in his guards. Was this a secret arrangement of the secret services? But such a strong person would have been more than enough to even protect the highest ranked officials. Since when had he been treated even better than them‽

For now, Dorasi could only hope that this strong hidden person would be able to defeat the attackers, so he was extremely nervous.

Han Xiao was like gangrene. Vernina could not distance herself away at all, and she became more anxious as time passed.

“This agent is way too strong. Their backup will arrive soon. I’m stalled, Hannes, quickly help me!”

“He is too close to you, and you’re moving at a very high speed. There’s a fifty percent chance I will hit you instead,” Hannes said.

Vernina felt troubled. It was originally an easy mission, but with Han Xiao appearing, all the plans were ruined. The intelligence clearly showed Dorasi’s guards to be normal people. Where did this guy jump out of?

Hannes quickly came to a decision. “Retreat!”

It was at this time that the police sirens sounded. Police vehicles and the special operations unit closed in at high speed, and the sound of rotors appeared in the sky—two helicopters were circling above. The place was surrounded from every direction, and they had locked onto the two people that were fighting each other.

The emergency backup team had arrived. It had only been three to four minutes since Dorasi was attacked; they surely lived up to their team name.

Vernina clenched her teeth and used her back to take two punches from Han Xiao, moved with the force from the punches, and dashed into the encirclement while enduring piercing pain in her organs. The people of Maple fired continuously.

She was very agile, so she avoided the attacks by repeatedly sidestepping and found a safe route within the concentrated barrage. Even when she was hit, it only caused her single digit damage. The damage from normal people using normal firearms posed next to no threat to her.

As Han Xiao saw Vernina was about to escape the encirclement, he snatched a heavy sniper from one of the special operation soldiers, activated [Flaming Will], and hit Vernina’s shoulder.

Blood splashed.

Her footsteps stumbled, then she sped up again and disappeared in the darkness, leaving blood stains on the ground.

The majority of the team chased in their vehicles.

Han Xiao threw the gun away, feeling much better. There was no benefit in chasing. Injuring the opponent was enough, and he could not kill her anyway.

I’m on their side in Maple’s people’s eyes for now, but if I escape now, they might chase me too. Han Xiao’s eyes twinkled. He decided to stay in place and find the opportunity to escape when the police officers were not paying attention.

More troops arrived, and they started cleaning up the place. Dorasi was surrounded and taken care of by a doctor.

From the conversation between the police, Han Xiao knew that both Vernina and Hannes had escaped, which was expected.

As he was leaning on a car, resting, a high-ranked officer walked in front of him and said in a low voice, “I’m Colonel Danny. You have done a good job, protecting Dorasi’s safety and not letting the kidnappers get their way.”

Han Xiao continued putting up a show. He acted calm and said, “It’s my job to do so.”

Danny looked at the street that was filled with pits, and slight shock appeared on his face. “Anguston, joined the army eleven years ago, trained as a special unit soldier for three years, took part in two military missions, kicked out of the special unit due to disciplinary issues, and joined the secret services to protect government officials. Your history is very common—never showed the strength of a superhuman,” he said.

Han Xiao shrugged and said, “People are constantly changing.”

Colonel Danny frowned. This was a very serious issue. This Anguston had been hiding his real strength. His motive was very suspicious and had to be checked thoroughly, but right now was not a good time.

Then, Dorasi came forward. “Good job, you saved me. I will let your superiors know about this and reward you for it.”

Dorasi knew that he had to keep a humble attitude after seeing Han Xiao’s strength. Such a strong superhuman was not like any other normal soldier he could just command around.

Han Xiao secretly observed Dorasi, thinking, What secret does this old government official have that interest two people that are LV 60?

After Dorasi showed his appreciation, he looked at Colonel Danny with a straight face and said, “What was the identity of the attackers?”

“We are still checking… Oh, they have found it.” Colonel Danny took the laptop from his assistant, but he was stunned with only one look.

“Vernina, former Raylen agent, currently decommissioned. She was once very active in the battlefields of the old era, was one of the shining legends of that era. She carried out more than one hundred highly dangerous missions, including assassinations, protection details, infiltrations, subverting governments, and so on. Today was her first appearance in decades, and her threat level is determined to be the highest.”

If it had something to do with legendary characters of the old era, then it would more or less have some connection to Bennett.

Oh, I remember now. Han Xiao had a flash of light in his mind. He now remembered where Vernina and Hannes had appeared.

It was in the middle of version 1.0 when players came into contact with these two names. They appeared in a form of something more like an easter egg.

In the biggest refugee camp created by Bennett in Han Xiao’s previous life, there was a small hill that had three graves on it. Two of them belonged to these two people. When players came into contact with them, they were already dead,

Bennett would sometimes stop in front of the three graves, and if someone were to ask him about it, he would sigh and say he had buried his friends and comrades—all respectable people.

Players only knew these three people were old friends of Bennett from what he said and nothing else; some players had tried triggering a mission, but it did not result in anything. Apparently, it was just an easter egg.

But now, the two people in the grave were still alive. Han Xiao was certain there must be a hidden storyline.

Two of the strongest people at LV 60 from the same era of Bennett… why were they against a Maple government official?

In the original storyline, how and what did they die for? Who killed them?

Colonel Danny looked up at Han Xiao with suspicion.

This person that he had never heard before had chased away a legend of an era. He was stronger than he had thought!

There was such a scary guy hidden in secret service, and the military had not noticed!

We’ll have to investigate thoroughly, Colonel Danny thought.

With such thoughts in his mind, Colonel Danny commanded the people to clean the battlefield, and within a short moment, Han Xiao disappeared from under his nose.

Han Xiao activated [Night Stalker]’s abilities as the attention of the people around him was diverted by cleaning up the battlefield. He walked to the corner and immediately changed his face and escaped. His level was much higher than everyone there, so as soon as he activated stealth mode, he was undetectable unless he lingered right in front of someone for a very long time.

As soon as Colonel Danny had realized this, he quickly asked the people around him, but nobody saw Anguston leaving. He stood still in shock. With just a slight dip in attention, the person had disappeared!

He commanded his people to search the nearby areas, which of course lead to no result.

Not long after Colonel Danny was confused, someone found the real Anguston lying in the garden of Dorasi’s mansion. He then realized that this ‘Anguston’ was a fake, and it was the same thing that the mystery person who infiltrated other mansions of the officials had done!

The attacker’s identity is confirmed, but who is the infiltrator? Colonel Danny thought with a heavy mind. The infiltrator was as strong as Vernina, so which organization did he belong to, and why did an ‘ace’ level power appear in the capital?

Dorasi was horrified and covered in cold sweat when he knew the truth.

After all, it turned out the person that was protecting him was also an enemy that had been stalking him all along.

Two enemies actually fought with each other. It was like he walked past the edges of hell and ended up unhurt!

“How am I alive?” Dorasi was still panicking.

As the people of Maple were still investigating, Han Xiao had already returned to Dorasi’s mansion. He placed the last document in the study and left, swaggering.

_____________________

[Deterrence and Threaten] is completed.

You have gained 120,000 experience.

+500 Relationship with Blood Pact Society

Current relationship: Respect (4450/6000)

_____________________

There was an affiliation between organizations. The Blood Pact Society was a subordinate organization of Dark Net, so the relationship with it would also influence the relationship with the Dark Net, just like how his relationship with Division 13 also affected the attitude that Stardragon had toward him. In order to unlock relationship with the higher-tier organization, Dark Net, Han Xiao guessed he needed an opportunity, like a mission or something. As the relationship with the subordinate organization became higher, it would start to affect the relationship with the superior organization.

This was not a difficult mission. It probably also has some hidden benefits, like increasing my relationship points with Bennett. Han Xiao nodded, when he returned to the Southern Continent, he would become a partner of the refugee storyline. He was looking forward to it.

…

After being busy for more than half of the night, Dorasi finally returned home, exhausted and protected by new guards.

As he passed by the study, he realized that the desk lamp was on. He walked toward the study table and wanted to turn the lamp off, but then he saw a document on the table that he had never seen before.

Dorasi’s expression changed. He hesitated for a few seconds and started reading the document slowly.

Inside the document were pieces of evidence of his corrupt profits and his unpleasant history, and it was shockingly inscribed by Dark Net.

“Dark Net sends our warmest regards. We wish you a healthy body.”

Dorasi’s face turned green. He immediately understood why the Dark Net did this—it could only be regarding the appropriation of supplies. He did not expect the Dark Net to even find out that he was one of the people who opposed the appropriation.

He threw the documents on the floor angrily, gnashing his teeth, and said, “How arrogant. This is blackmailing, a bunch of robbers!”

They could sneak into his house and place something, which meant they could take away his life. The infiltrator belonged to the Dark Net! Everything tonight had been planned by the Dark Net!

But he did not dare plan revenge. If the document fell into the hands of his political opposition, his political life would be over; he would undoubtedly be abandoned by the people he depended on. Without protection from his political party, he would definitely be erased. As a government official, he was most clear with Maple’s ways of doing things.

Dorasi burned the document and lay down on the chair like he had lost his bones. He watched the document as it turned into ash in the fireplace, and he remained silent for quite some time.

I can’t let people know about this. I was not the only one that opposed the appropriation. The others wouldn’t be stupid enough to spread it. Dorasi’s eyes twinkled. If no one talked about it, no one would know, and it would remain a secret. As long as they agreed with the appropriation, Dark Net would not take further action.

However, things never turned out according to plan. One of the government officials whose house had been infiltrated was found dead, with his dead body hidden in the cabinet! This had immediately raised the importance level much higher. Secret service agents locked down the official’s mansion and investigated the entire house carefully. Han Xiao saw that the target died at the time. Therefore, he did plant the document. Of course, the intelligence team did not manage to find anything.

They did, however, have a rough guess. Five victims, but only one died—why were the other four unharmed? What was the motive of the infiltrator? The intelligence unit asked the rest of the four victims, including Dorasi, if there were any abnormalities—all four of them denied it. However, the Intelligence team had found a link between the five parties, which was their opposition to providing aid for the Dark Net not long ago.

The Dark Net was the most suspicious!

The infiltrator had battled with the legend of the old era then disappeared into thin air. Maple Intelligence Institution immediately narrowed it down to the most suspicious person, Dark Net’s Black Phantom!

Which meant that the four officials were lying, but why did the dead government official get killed?

The doctor checked the cause of death. They did not find any injury outside or inside; the cause of death was a myocardial infarction and overflow of adrenaline. In short, he was scared to death!

What did he see before he died to scare him to death!

Did he see a ghost?

What did Black Phantom do?

The more they thought, the scarier it was for the intelligence agents of Maple.

“Such a fearsome way of assassination. Natural, no trace, godly disguise, unbelievable!”

The Intelligence agents recorded it hastily.

The toughness of Black Phantom was known by everyone in the underworld—it was almost impossible to find him. The intelligence institution of Maple could only do all they could, and they were already expecting their efforts to go to waste.

…

Vernina sat bare top on the chair with her front facing the back of the chair. Her hands grabbed the chair back and placed her chin on the back of her hands. Hannes was behind her, dealing with the wounds on her shoulder. To the side were cotton balls drenched with blood.

Ding-Dong

Hannes finally took out the bullet that was stuck in the muscles and threw it into the metal plate.

The pain made Vernina frown a little. She sighed and said, “Such a shame. Can’t believe I failed such an easy mission.”

Hannes continued sewing the wounds without facing up and said, “Garian’s information had errors—it’s all his fault.”

Garian threw the laptop on the table as he heard what Hannes said. The screen showed the files on the secret service agents around Dorasi. “Bullshit, this is intelligence I got from the database of Maple through very difficult and tiresome hacking. That strong opponent is called Anguston. Look clearly at his history. He is a totally normal person. Who would have thought he was hiding so deeply?”

Vernina put on a white cardigan and tied her golden hair up. “With this failure, it won’t be so easy to kidnap the target next time. That Anguston is not easy to deal with.”

Garian looked at the laptop. He suddenly turned happy and said, “Wait, I have new information. The person we fought was a fake. He did not belong to Maple at all.”

“Who was it?” Hannes was surprised.

“Seems like it’s from the Dark Net,” Garian said as he typed on the keyboard and hacked for intelligence.

“Dark Net? Only Bennett and two other old guys are that strong, but it wasn’t them. There’s new blood in Dark Net? It has been quite some time since I paid attention to the data from the underground.” Vernina was slightly shocked. She touched her shoulder and said, “He also left a bullet hole in me. He is really not easily messed with.”

“We have no conflict of interest with him. We just met him unluckily,” Garian said. “And we met a strong one. Bennett has found a treasure.”

“The fastest way is to ask.” Hannes took out his phone, selecting Bennett’s number.

The call went through.

“Hannes? Didn’t expect you to call me. Didn’t you retire already?” Bennett’s voice appeared.

“Garian said that there was something important that he needed my help for, and I owed him a favor. Never mind that. I have something to ask you. Did you send someone to Maple?” Hannes then explained what had happened.

Bennett didn’t know to laugh or to cry. “Such a coincidence. I don’t know whether it’s him being lucky or you guys being unlucky.”

“Who is he?”

Bennett stopped talking for a second, then laughed and said, “Are you looking for trouble? I suggest you don’t mess with him. He might kill you.”

“Fighting him was an accident. You know me—I won’t take revenge.” Hannes shook his head.

Garian cut in and said, “Let me guess, he is the recently active Black Phantom. He’s the only newbie worth mentioning in your organization.”

Hannes froze in place. He started thinking and said, “Turns out it’s Black Phantom. I’ve heard of him although I retired and don’t pay attention to freshmen. He’s quite tough. Seems like you’ve got yourself a great warrior Bennett.”

Bennett kept silent. Just as Hannes said, he also felt that he had found a treasure.

Back when he first met Black Phantom, his code name was still Mr. Black, and he was only a scorpion. He had been quite strong but still very far from top tier. He had also seemed like Bennett’s fan and gave Bennett some presents that suited his taste. Thus, Bennett had given him some guidance, but it was only a random act, and he did not take Han Xiao very seriously.

However, within a short few months, Han Xiao had shaken the underworld with his battle record and become one of the top ten killers and an undoubted ace of the Blood Pact Society. The speed that he grew at surprised Bennett.

Although they had not battled with each other, Bennett could feel the strength difference between him and Han Xiao decreasing at a very fast rate.

With Black Phantom’s potential, sooner or later, he would become someone that could share the responsibilities with him so that he did not have to do everything alone. Black Phantom’s partnership with the Dark Net was at the honeymoon stage, so Bennett paid a lot of attention to it.

“Since he’s one of your people, I want him to help us do something,” Hannes said.

Bennett rejected and said, “Black Phantom is not my subordinate, and I cannot command him. The most I can do is help you ask, but it still depends on his response.”

Hannes pondered and said, “Alright, I would like to talk to him myself.”

“That can be done.”

The call ended.

“You want to let a stranger join us?” Vernina said with surprise. “Although he’s strong, we know nothing about him.”

“He’s very strong. What’s bad about having another person assist us? We don’t need to keep what we’re doing a secret anyway.”

Garian was the initiator of the mission, and he completely agreed with what Hannes wanted to do. “We’re digging for a big secret, and three of us is not enough. I have been collecting intelligence for many years and have finally found some leads—I need to know no matter what.”

“One day, you’ll die of your curiosity,” Hannes said with a heavy heart.

…

As the sun began to rise, Han Xiao returned to the Dark Net’s safehouse. Golden Fox and Ghost Blade had been awake for the whole night. Seeing him return, Golden Fox breathed a sigh of relief.

“Is the mission completed?” Ghost Blade questioned. “Did you follow my plan?”

“Your plan wouldn’t work.” Han Xiao shook his head and briefly described the challenges he faced during the infiltration. Ghost Blade’s intelligence had missed out some details, and these were very important details.

After what Han Xiao said, Ghost Blade noticed there were errors and flaws to the intelligence that he had collected, despite him thinking it was as detailed as it could be. He felt shamed as Han Xiao pointed out the details that he had missed.

Ghost Blade had originally been very confident of his precise plan, but he realized that following the plan would not have been enough to deal with the sudden changes of situation. Yet Han Xiao improvised on the spot and completed the mission seemingly with ease like it was nothing.

The difference made Ghost Blade feel defeated and embarrassed.

But he realized that Han Xiao had no intention of blaming or insulting him; rather, he did not seem to care about what he was thinking at all. Ghost Blade was completely ignored; plus, having been slapped in the face by reality, he felt even more embarrassed.

Whether it’s taunting or respecting, he doesn’t care about what I think, Ghost Blade thought with discontent. It felt like he was provoking someone, but that someone treated him like air and completely ignored him. It was like punching a cotton ball. Furthermore, with their difference in position and strength, he felt his actions were even more laughable.

Being ignored felt horrible for Ghost Blade—it was like he was just an extra, and he felt like something was clogging his heart.

Although Han Xiao did not know about the change of attitude from Ghost Blade, he was able to guess it. It was probably nothing more than arrogance and doubts, then getting slapped by reality and feeling embarrassed. Han Xiao’s heart was completely unaffected.

Everyone’s mind was different. Whether it was childish or crazy, everyone would have thoughts that were way out of line. But as long as they did not act on it, it would forever be a secret. Therefore, the great Han Xiao did not care about the thoughts and emotions of others—that would be more meaningless than a pair of spectacles without lenses.

Whether Ghost Blade doubted or respected him, it would not affect his emotions even for a little bit. There was nothing that described this characteristic of his better than the phrase ‘doing things his own way’.

This was the legendary calming aura.

Golden Fox licked her bright, tender lips, and her emotions were complicated.

The first time she saw Black Phantom was in the manor defending mission a few months ago. Black Phantom had just been a scorpion back then—his rank had been even lower than hers. But in a few months, she was still in the same place, while Black Phantom had climbed up in a short time to be an ace of the Blood Pact Society as well as made a connection with the superiors of Dark Net.

Golden Fox envied Black Phantom’s position, but she knew she did not have what it took.

If she could sacrifice her body to have Black Phantom back her up, she would definitely do it, but it was too bad that Han Xiao had no interest in her.

She could understand it—what was wrong with men being weird?

Not bothering with the puzzled Golden Fox, Han Xiao opened the safe and took out the equipment that he had previously placed inside. There was no need to stay in Maple now that the mission was done. As he was getting ready to leave, his phone rang. It was Bennett.

Han Xiao picked up the phone.

“I have completed your request. There were some small accidents along the way, but I was overall stable.”

“I knew you wouldn’t fail. I have something else for you,” Bennett said. “The enemy you met in the middle of the mission was actually my friend. You might have heard of them before, Hannes and Vernina. They are from my era, ”

Han Xiao acted surprised. “Oh, what a coincidence.”

“It’s surprising that you didn’t lose. You were much weaker when I first met you,” Bennett said in awe. “The speed you’re improving at has surpassed my knowledge.”

“Are you calling just to compliment me?” Han Xiao said. “Go on, don’t stop. I can still endure it.”

With twitching lips, Bennett took a deep breath and calmed his emotions. “Hannes has asked me to tell you that he wants your help. Regarding the conflict earlier, it was just a misunderstanding.”

“Wants my help?” Han Xiao’s eyes twinkled. He realized that this was a mission that came to him without him looking for it!

Or to put in in a more direct way, he had met the requirements of triggering this storyline—he had legendary points and sufficient relationship with the Dark Net, and he was friends with Bennett while his level was high enough. Therefore, the hidden storyline had come to him.

Legendary points and relationships with organizations had their benefits. Sometimes, NPCs would come looking for the player and task them with a mission. These missions were usually more difficult than usual, but they also rewarded generously.

Missions coming to the players and players looking to trigger missions everywhere were treated very differently, just like the difference between seeking help from others and others seeking help from you.

Therefore, players favored attributes like legendary points that could give them a very good gaming experience.

“I could help them, but I need to know the details.” Han Xiao thought for a second and added, “Since they are your friends, they are my friends too. Don’t worry about that small conflict.”

This sentence made Bennett feel very good. He laughed in a very ‘reserved’ way, but he could not hide the fact that he was feeling comfortable all over. Since Han Xiao had given him so much respect, he would return the favor. “Count it as me owing you a favor. Hehe. Seems like I owe you quite a few favors already.”

“There’s no rush to return the favor. Just don’t forget about it,” Han Xiao joked.

Every time Bennett owed him a favor, their relationship points would increase. Being in good relationship with one of the main characters on the planet would definitely be quite beneficial.

Triggering a hidden storyline without actively looking for it was clearly one of the benefits it had brought. Bennett’s relationship network was very wide, so one could go through Bennett to get in contact with many others, most of them being strong ones with missions that had a chance to be triggered.

After waiting for a while, Bennett transferred Hannes’ call.

Ka-chin.

They both kept silent after the call was connected. They could only hear the sound of each other breathing.

In the end, Hannes spoke first. “I’m Hannes, we have met last night.”

“Bennett had told me. Heard you need my help. What’s it about?” Han Xiao got straight to the point.

“It’s regarding a secret that was buried in history. We have found some traces of it, and I want to find out about this secret.

Han Xiao was very confused. He had no idea what secret he was talking about.

However, a notification showed up on the interface. Han Xiao could not move his eyes away from it the moment he saw it; he was completely shocked.

_____________________

You have triggered Planet Aquamarine’s Hidden Main Storyline Grade A Mission [New Era—Origin].

Remarks: This mission will cause unknown and irreversible effects to some events and organizations. Please consider carefully before choosing to accept or reject.

_____________________

Han Xiao’s eye immediately widened.

A main storyline mission that no one ever triggered!

There were three main storylines in Planet Aquamarine—two of them were the war between the Six Nations and Germinal Organization and the creation of the refugee camp, and another hidden main storyline was triggered by the players, but it was not it!

He had completely no recollection of it, which meant this mission had not been triggered by the players in his previous life!

Hidden main storylines were a special type of mission. They needed an opportunity to be triggered, and they would impact the other main storylines and change the plot in one way or another. Han Xiao had played through many versions in his previous life, and he had read about hidden main storylines on the forum before.

Without exception, they all impacted the main storyline missions of their civilization or planet in a profound way.

The first time Hannes and the guys appeared before the players they were already dead. No wonder no one triggered it.

Han Xiao suddenly realized how dangerous this mission was. Even two people at the maximum level for Planet Aquamarine had died. It would probably be much more difficult than he thought.

Han Xiao’s grade A mission against Germinal Organization [Fall of the Germinal] was a branch of the main storyline mission. Players in different organizations would receive different main storyline missions. For the Six Nations, it would of course be to destroy the Germinal Organization, but for Germinal Organization, it was the other way around.

However, Han Xiao’s mission was special because he did not belong to any organization but was Germinal Organization’s enemy. Thus, the requirements and details were different, but the main goal was the same.

However, he knew nothing about this hidden main storyline mission.

Origin? Does it mean to dig into the history of the planet? In that case, which event’s origin is this?

The unknown was feared, yet people were curious about it. Han Xiao felt an itch in his bones—it was the feeling of excitement and anticipation.

He was an extremely long-term player that loved to dig the important factors in ‘Galaxy’, and this was a secret that no player had found out about!

“Accept.”

_____________________

You have accepted [New Era—Origin].

+10 Relationship with Hannes, Vernina, Garian, and Jiang Yuan.

_____________________

Hmm? Han Xiao noticed something.

He knew that Jiang Yuan was the last person buried in the grave, but who was this Garian?

_____________________

Talk to Hannes. Listen to his introduction.

_____________________

The mission requirement at the moment was only this. Han Xiao was used to it; it was something like an opening cinematic.

“It has something to do with us attempting to kidnap Dorasi last night. He took part in a secret plan some years back, and this secret plan of Maple is one of the leads. There are many secrets in the nation of Maple.

“When you infiltrated the government officials’ mansions, did you feel weird that these officials were protected around the clock, but this doesn’t happen in other nations?”

Han Xiao nodded. “I know about this, the ‘Ulrich Assault’ from many years ago.”

“Yes, Ulrich Assault…”

Hannes described the event in detail.

Ulrich’s position in Maple at that time was similar to a prime minister. He had been attacked at home, not by a few people, but a large group of civilians who somehow had weapons from an unknown supplier. They used gunpowder weapons and burned Ulrich’s expensive mansion to the ground. Ulrich, his wife, and their three children aged around ten years old were brutally slaughtered by the attackers. The entire process was recorded and uploaded online. It shocked the nation and even the entire world.

The reason for this was that Ulrich approved a policy that was basically to remove power and citizen benefits from the civilians and to use it as an investment of a ridiculous project, which was actually a way for Ulrich to put money into his own pocket.

Corruption of the government officials in Maple was known throughout the world, but before the war of the old era had broken out, Maple had been known for their gentle government. They were normal and not a strong nation.

When the old era war broke out, the government implemented policies that were very pressurizing for the civilians. Most people showed understanding and accepted the policies under pressure, and some even actively contributed. The government officials of Maple had tasted the delicious fruit of evil. After the war ended, because of the pressure from the nation losing power after the war, they did not go back to the old easy-going policies. Instead, they continued to pressure the civilians with tax and labor, which was used to recover the nation’s power. Conflicts within the country became worse as time passed by, the gentle society environment disappeared and never returned.

People who were not living the life they wanted were like a spring that was pressed to its limit—the policy Ulrich approved was the last straw.

Then, half an hour after Ulrich was attacked, the special force received a command to kill everyone who took part in the attack. They showed no mercy. The nation was shocked, and this signified as the opening of the change of times in Maple.

If this had happened before the old era war, it would have a been a scandal that could cause the complete downfall of the government, but in the new era, where power was left unchecked, the other five nations had no intention of getting involved.

It was already difficult for everyone just to protect themselves after the war. Organizations that protected human rights and power alliances no longer existed.

The structure of the world changed. The balance was broken; economies were close to collapsing; resources and military power became the only standard to measure a nation’s power. Maple felt that the civilians’ feelings did not matter anymore, so they did not serve the citizens like before. In their eyes, it was time for the citizens to serve the nation.

The old era was over. With everything being destroyed and waiting to be rebuilt, it was a chance to reshape the country, so they chose a radical way of doing it.

The assault that shocked the nation also alerted the government officials of Maple. They decided to retrieve the ‘weapons’ from the civilians. The government officials had never been this united before—they approved twenty-four strict policies with high efficiencies within two days. The twenty-four-hour protection of the officials was the most basic policy, and there were even insane ones that graded civilians, which led to ‘rotten meat’ being evicted from the big cities every so often—rotten meat being citizens deemed worthless.

Thus, the effects of the assault went down a weird path. The Maple government announced that the attackers were not ordinary citizens—there was a reactionary group in the nation who planned the attack. Their weapons were the best evidence.

The Maple government listed dozens of lame pieces of evidence. With the justifying excuse of capturing the reactionary group, they started to use force to take back the power that they had given to the civilians, pressure the ‘reactionary group’, ‘deal’ with anyone who ‘might be a threat to the nation’, then lock the information down. They wanted to turn civilians into a completely controlled labor force.

The way Maple dealt with what came after the assault became the biggest scandal of that year, but with strong military power, they completed the reshaping of their country and built a nation with a completely different style. People were classified as a pyramid, except there were close to no ladders between classes. The citizens saw no hope in life; they were just waiting to die.

Those with power were not born with it. Under high pressure, a real reactionary group had formed, but it was not the cold weapon era anymore—the standard of weapons that the nation had was like a wall that could never be scaled. If there was no external interference, it was almost impossible for anyone to overturn and take over the government, and Maple regularly removed ‘people who posed threat to the nation’. Thus, the citizens had turned from being terrified to being numb.

The assaults were started by a few violent citizens venting their rage, and it ended in more citizens bearing with the consequences, which perfectly described the case of hitting a rock with an egg. It caused the society of Maple to be reconstructed. It became a dictatorship, and the ones on the top had complete control.

The root of a gentle government changing was war. The high pressure from the war caused the government to collapse under stress, and they had no choice but to direct the pressure to its citizens, which then got out of hand. This was just like how it was easy to go from being poor to being rich but difficult to go from being rich to being poor.[a][b]

Citizens were the cornerstone of a country. Just like the parts of a machine, when the national machine needed these parts to overload, they would wear out and break quicker than usual and sacrifice the best time of their lives. But as long as they changed the parts to new ones, the machine could still function. The broken parts were replaceable, and the parts that were thrown away became ‘vessels of an era’.

Han Xiao was interested. He quite liked the history and stories of civilizations. After Hannes finished, Han Xiao contemplated for a while and asked, “What does this have to do with the ‘secret’ you talked about?”

“What I wanted to say is that the war had changed a lot of things. I have been through that darkest and most chaotic age. Many were controlled by ideas, missions, and honor and turned into a tool for killing while still thinking they were doing an honorable thing. Only a few woke up from this, such as Bennett, he became a hero, but an era that needs a hero is never a good era. The end of the war was filled with dirty conspiracies that were buried as secrets, and we want these secrets to resurface.”

Han Xiao raised his eyebrows. “And what benefit does this bring you?”

“Nothing, but the people of this world have the right to know what they went through and not let these conspiracies stay hidden to become a secret that never gets unveiled. I don’t think the original construct of society would shatter within a night just because we got in touch with galactic civilizations, and I don’t believe a so-called internal conflict would cause wars. There has to be someone behind all of it.”

“Every country has its secrets. It’s nothing unusual,” Han Xiao said.

Hannes smiled and said, “Since we have come to the new era, the world should also look different, the rules are changing. Why follow the old logic? Also, I owed a favor to someone who has a very strong desire to gain knowledge. He suggested this mission, and I joined in.”

Hmm, from his tone, seems like they are anarchists. They died in my previous life. This mission seems rather complicated. Han Xiao stopped asking questions. He considered for a while and decided to join them. No matter what reason they were doing this for, this was a very rare hidden mission, so it would be a waste to reject it.

Hannes requested to meetup. They were both in the same city, so with Hannes leading the way, Han Xiao soon found their safehouse.

They met and started observing each other. Han Xiao looked past Hannes and Vernina, then stopped at Garian. He was most curious about this person.

As he was observing the trio, they were looking at him.

So, this was the legendary Black Phantom.

“You are pretty strong,” Vernina said with a calm tone.

“Although we just met today, I owe you a favor for coming to help,” Hannes said.

Plenty of people who owed me favors, welcome to the party.

“What do I need to do?” Han Xiao asked.

The three people looked at each other. Garian took out a deck of documents and said, “The evidence is within the intelligence of the past few years. I spent a long time finding a lead. It is very cumbersome, so we need to divide our labor.”

As Han Xiao browsed the documents, his expression finally changed.

_____________________

[New Era—Origin]

This mission is a series of chain missions. You can complete the targets below.

Ending of the Survivor: In the Blade City of Raylen, find a guy called “Old Devin” and get the incomplete copy of [Sully No.485 Document].

The Key of Misplacement: In the capital ruins of the West Mountain nation within the Southern Continent (Coordinates——), find a misplaced important item [Attachment—Item Appearance]. this was the end result of West Mountain nation’s last research before they were destroyed.

Sealed Past: Control the warlord, Verna, of the Verna Colony on the Western Continent (Coordinates ——). His father was a high ranked military officer of a dead country. There are hidden clues—follow Verna and find the secret.

Mysterious Prisoner: Decades ago, an intelligence agent of Stardragon was imprisoned by a country. That country is already dead, but the intelligence agent was kept in a secret prison that had no guards. No one has found him. Find him or his relics (Coordinates of the ruin ——)

Same Type of Person: A loner who has secluded himself in the wilderness has some very important information. Intelligence shows that he appeared near the tribute valley in the Western Continent. Be careful, he is not a normal person. He was active on the battlefield of the old era. It is recommended you engage the contact with friendliness (Jiang Yuan).

This is the first round of the mission. As long as one of the missions are completed, the mission can be concluded. The amount and completion status of the missions will determine the mission requirements of the next round.

Reward(s) of the First Round: 350,000 Experience. Bonus rewards given as per evaluation of the missions.

_____________________

Han Xiao raised his brows. The freedom of this kind of mission was very high, similar to the series missions of an organization, but this main storyline was clearly more cumbersome, and it was a chain mission. The completion status of the previous round would affect the mission requirements of the next round.

This mission is extremely open. Every round has different clues that will lead to different endings. Usually, the more targets are completed, the better it is, and the higher the evaluation will be. Han Xiao had completed this type of mission before, so he knew that there were many possibilities.

It was like walking a maze. In order to find the exit, one had to gain as much information as one could, and with the ending of Hannes and the others, this mission posed very high risks.

The rewards of the mission did not bring shame to main storylines. Just the basic reward of the first round was already 350,000 experience, and the bonus rewards were very likely to be items, abilities, or talents.

But the mission was too cumbersome. The location spanned across three continents, so it would cost him a huge amount of time. No wonder it was an A-grade mission. Han Xiao tightened his brows, feeling a little distressed.

“I will try it.” No matter what, he needed to accept it first.

Garian nodded. “I will count on you for these missions. The three of us have other missions.”

Hannes and the rest were all very strong characters from the old era, so their mission was definitely not simple. Han Xiao decided to let the Dark Net help keep an eye on it.

After getting the mission requirements, Han Xiao left the safehouse.

“So, is he trustworthy?” Vernina asked.

Hannes shook his head and then nodded. “We don’t know much about him. Let’s see what he will do for now.”

“The documents I gave him have real and fake information,” Garian said. “It was only one tenth of the clues I had, so it will be best if he can complete them. If he has other thoughts, we won’t lose anything. It is just some unconfirmed intelligence anyway.”

“He is a friend of Bennett, so he should be trustworthy.”

[a]Is this the right was round? I’d have said it’s easier to go from rich to poor than poor to rich XD

[b]Haha I would say so too, I think I was not clear in the translation, this was regrading the transition of lifestyle

This hidden storyline seems to have something to do with digging the history. Logically, it shouldn’t result in a big impact, but since it’s the main storyline, could it be that there’ll be some shocking secret that’ll be dug up? Han Xiao thought as he walked on the street.

No matter what secrets there were, it was not his mission, and there were enough chances for him to explore it, but of course, the rewards were the most important part.

Since the mission in Maple was completed, Han Xiao left that very day. The threats that he had issued had resulted in the local intelligence institution carrying out a hidden investigation throughout the city, but because of the ‘godly assassination’ of a government official, the investigation was very thorough.

Because they were in the same organization, Han Xiao brought Golden Fox and Ghost Blade as he retreated. Ghost Blade was unwilling at first, but the situation was severe, so he had to compromise.

Ghost Blade did not like the feeling of being protected by someone, so he was sulking most of the way.

After successfully leaving Maple, Han Xiao separated from the duo and rushed toward the cargo plane toward Farian without stopping. The players in the novice villages of the Western Continent were still waiting for his arrival.

The forum had exploded. The players that were waiting for Han Xiao panicked and were worried that he would not be coming anymore. They started being superstitious and spammed posts in the forum to pray for Han Xiao’s arrival. The posts reached the astonishing number of 300,000. It was so terrifying that Han Xiao was worried that he might be buried in the sea of players.

Some of the players started to play with memes.

“Youngster, did you drop this Black Phantom, this White Phantom, or this Yellow Phantom? Hmm, you’re an honest child. To reward you, you can exchange your money to learn skills.”

“Shhh, look at what I found, there’s a Black Phantom that is different from the others. We can try to capture it. One Black Phantom could provide us with energy for many days. But it is not easy to deal with. We have to quietly close in from its back… Ahhh, I’ve been discovered. Help, it wants to eat me, run Calvin!”

“Black Phantom used Death Stare. It was super effective.”

Finally, after tens of thousands of summons, the Great Mechanic Han Xiao arrived at a novice village. The players waiting for Han Xiao there were countless, much more than any other novice village.

The moment he appeared, players rushed over like an avalanche. People who did not know might even have mistaken them for a locust plague.

Han Xiao looked at the level of the players—they were at an average of level ten. The hundreds of top-level players on the forum have already reached LV 18; Maple Moon was one of them. With the help of the Great Mechanic Han, she had been the biggest winner of the prize pool.

However, other players also had their own opportunities. The number of people at the same level was not small, but most of them were players from other countries on other novice planets. Planet Aquamarine was the base camp of China’s esports clubs, but the number of their players at the top of the level leaderboard was the lowest. It was quite a pain for Han Xiao.

Disappointing, come on guys, buck up!

Then, he looked at the countless players in front of him, pondered, and said, “What’s the use of leveling up fast? Being able to fight is the way to go.”

Hmm, nothing wrong with that.

Only players from big guilds that were climbing the level leaderboard would be rushing their levels without upgrading their abilities. Other players would not be doing the same. Even though leveling up was fast at the start, it would be slower as their level became higher.

With the experience quota, Han Xiao had to think about the missions he gave out. If he wanted to cultivate one player, he could make that player grow at a much higher speed than anyone else, but he would not do that, at least not before the players reach LV 20.

Before LV 20, [Energy Training Technique] had a lot of market potential, so it was extremely profitable.

…

Han Xiao taught abilities as usual, and the players came swarming. Gaining experience points in novice village was also a way of relaxation for him, so he had time to browse the forums.

On the forums, the popularity of Inhuman Phenomenon was over the top, and not only on Planet Aquamarine. Similar situations had occurred on other planets too, and players received different treatments.

On the Wizard Planet, they were researched by the witches and were discovered to have a very high talent for sorcery, which was in fact the learning ability on the player Interface. They then shockingly joined various sorcery academies.

On the Ancient Planet, they were seen as messengers of God and worshipped.

On the Ice Winter planet… Oh, the players in the Ice Winter Planet were the safest. The devil species had no interest whatsoever in their unique characteristic of being able to revive after death, and when the players saw the spaceships of the Space Devil species dash through the universe and breaking apart the meteors surrounding the planet for resources with their gravity capturing devices, they all understood why the reaction of the devil species was so normal.

To the Extinguish Army, the strength of the players was like an ant. Who would care about what an ant looked like?

Of course, there was also the possibility that the devil species were used to seeing the ability to revive. No one knew for sure. It was all just speculation anyway.

The planets above were all very lucky, but Planet Aquamarine was one of the unluckiest planets. NPCs were very fearful toward the players. The players were captured, experimented on, sliced to pieces, and brainwashed—they were treated like slaves.

Players being filled with hatred was a certain, and with the situation on Planet Aquamarine, the players had new speculations.

Black Phantom was probably a compensation from the game company and producers!

“No wonder! That’s why a character like Black Phantom only exists on our planet!”

“Luckily, there is Black Phantom. If we didn’t have him, we would have nothing to play with!”

Seeing comments like this, Han Xiao smiled. His efforts did not go to waste.

As he saw the expression in the players’ eyes, he smiled even brighter, looking like a farmer who was looking at his harvest.

The Inhuman Phenomenon on Planet Aquamarine had arrived at a key stage. All the organizations were contacting the players. Some of them were using a soft approach like Stardragon and Hesla; there were also some that went for a colder approach like Raylen and Ordina; other militaries and financial organizations were taking action, too. It was not all bad for the players, at least they had the opportunity to join an organization without having to run everywhere, and that was exactly what the players did, with the Six Nations having most players joining them.

In Han Xiao’s previous life, the Germinal Organization had lured in the most players, but now, their bases were all destroyed, and they could only capture players in the local area of their headquarters. It was pathetic—their player count was reduced by approximately eighty percent compared to his previous life.

The Inhuman Phenomenon also lead to another change; the players developed a hobby of teasing the NPCs. They became very curious and asked a lot of questions, and they liked to do things that were out of the line, wanting to see the reaction from the NPCs.

Players had a lot of fun, but to NPCs, they were acting extremely weird.

All the organizations did one thing at the same time—they added one line to the Inhuman documents. “Most Inhumans have a mental illness. Their actions are very random, and they might do anything. They cannot be judged with a normal mindset.”

Han Xiao did not know to cry or to laugh when he saw this line on the Dark Net. There was another line that made him burst into laughter.

“With research, the Inhumans have gender, but they do not have genitals and reproductive abilities.”

The game did not allow players to get naked, and from the NPCs’ perspective, it was like their underwear was part of their body, which was very incomprehensible.

Han Xiao was laughing uncontrollably. He could imagine how the organizations found out about this…

Unable to reproduce, which meant that Inhumans were not a new species. Of course, there was a possibility that their way of reproducing was different from what the people on Planet Aquamarine knew about. There were also all kinds of speculations about the Inhumans on the Dark Net, with various emotions like terror, nervousness, and many others.

Han Xiao noticed the once abandoned religion seemed to have rejuvenated. They claimed Inhumans to be messengers sent by God to save the world.

Some players had the thought of teasing Black Phantom. Since Black Phantom was the guider of new players, would he also be shocked like the other NPCs? Teasing an NPC was a fun thing to do.

“Black Phantom, your name is Han Xiao, you served Stardragon before, and you are now a member of the Dark Net, am I right?” a player named Flying Naughty Prawn suddenly said. He had seen the video from Bun-hit-dog and had an interesting idea. He wanted to expose Black Phantom’s identity right in front of him and see what would happen.

There was no way for Black Phantom to know that his identity was exposed. When he saw a stranger stating his true identity, would he be shocked and lose his cool?

Flying Naughty Prawn was staring at Han Xiao while snickering.

The rubbernecking crowd all looked at Flying Naughty Prawn with respect.

This guy really is a courageous warrior who lives for trouble.

Then, they all stepped back simultaneously. They stood further back so that they would not be splashed by the blood.

Han Xiao knew where Flying Naughty Prawn had gotten the information from. This was an impact of Bun-hit-dog’s video. To expose some information and increase the curiosity of the players toward his identity and to increase his fame, this had gone through his consent.

The tiny amount of information exposed was of no importance to Han Xiao. The players were not like the NPCs who had a large intelligence network. Without the key information, it was completely useless to know his real name. Instead, the more viral the video became, the stronger his impact grew.

Therefore, Han Xiao had guessed long ago that there would be players who would asked him directly, so he calmed replied with a “hmm” then kept silent.

Flying Naughty Prawn was confused. It did not go as he imagined. How is Black Phantom so calm now that his identity has been exposed?

Does Black Phantom not care about strangers knowing his identity at all?

Or… is Black Phantom’s identity actually not a secret at all in areas that players don’t know about?

This plan didn’t work at all.

Flying Naughty Prawn was very discouraged.

Black Phantom was too steady. It was like he did not have a weakness and could not be teased at all.

The crowd looked at each other, becoming even more curious.

What kind of person was he?

Flying Naughty Prawn did not give up. He continued to look for trouble and asked again, “I want to join the Germinal Organization, do you know how can I do that?”

Everyone knew that Black Phantom was against the Germinal Organization. Thus, he asked that on purpose.

Yooo, are you provoking me youngster?

Han Xiao immediately deducted three relationship points as punishment.

Flying Naughty Prawn’s face turned green. Isn’t this reaction too straightforward? That was completely unexpected!

Han Xiao suddenly had a new idea. With the influence he had on players, maybe he could guide them on choosing a side to join.

So, he paused and said, “A war is going to break out. The Six Nations will come together for an expedition. The Germinal Organization will certainly lose. If you want to commit suicide, do as you wish. If you want to join the Dark Net, I can write a referral letter for you. If you want to join the Germinal Organization, get out of my face.”

The crowd got excited, Black Phantom finally had finally given a different reaction, and he had even said information that none of them knew. They started chatting with each other.

“Expedition? The Six Nations and Germinal Organization are going to war?”

“He knows much more than we do. His judgment is definitely reliable.”

“Then joining the Germinal Organization would be quite a loss.”

The players created a commotion. Only players in Andrea had joined the Germinal Organization. Han Xiao’s words would very soon be sent to the forums, and those who were planning to join the Germinal Organization might also change their mind.

He did not want to give up on any chances to harm the Germinal Organization. He had not bothered them for a while, and they seemed to be having a rather peaceful time.

Unacceptable.

Players noticed a keyword in Han Xiao’s words. “He said the Dark Net. That’s a hidden organization, isn’t it? Can he really help us join the Dark Net?”

Han Xiao smiled, opened up the store interface, and added a new item.

_____________________

[Referral Letter]: Unlocks the Blood Pact Society.

Remarks: The Blood Pact Society is a subordinate hitman organization under the Dark Net.

Price: 250,000 Aquamarine Dollars

_____________________

“250,000‽” The crowd was stunned. This was a sky-high price for them. Nobody could afford it.

Originally, to join the Blood Pact Society, there needed to be a few rounds of mission tests, but Han Xiao had gotten rid of all that. With his relationship with the Dark Net, introducing some players into the organization was a piece of cake.

A few months ago, when Han Xiao bought the Blood Pact Society certificate from Antonio, it had cost 200,000. He had used that as a basis and increased the price by 25%. He felt it was a reasonable price since inflation also needed to be considered.

With such a high price, normal players would not be able to afford, but Han Xiao was not planning to sell a large quantity. He was targeting the pro players from esports clubs who could afford the price with the backing of their guild.

Pro players were the ones who were most willing to become stronger by any means necessary. This strategy would attract pro players, which was beneficial for him in expanding his group of spare tires. Of course, most importantly, it was to earn money.

It’s not enough to only have inexpensive and high-quality normal items. There also needs to be a few luxury items with a sky-high price to enrich my store structure,Han Xiao thought.

250,000 Aquamarine Dollars was a price that none of the guilds could afford at the time, but they were rich and could use real money to purchase Aquamarine Dollars from other players.

Now, let’s see how many guilds will realize the benefits of joining a hidden new organization.

He was now Fisherman Han, waiting for people who were willing to bite the bait.

…

‘Unbelievable, the most expensive item by far!’

‘Black Phantom: Germinal Organization will certainly lose’

Posts with such titles appeared in the forums of Planet Aquamarine, and it immediately attracted players’ attention. When they saw the sky-high price of 250,000 for the referral letter, they were all shocked speechless.

“Wow, is this organization made of gold?”

“Blood Pact Society, no idea what they do.”

“The price is outrageously high. What’s so special about this organization called the Blood Pact Society?”

“Anyone had heard of this organization before?”

This person was just asking randomly, but someone unexpectedly replied, “I triggered the mission to join the Blood Pact Society. It is very cumbersome and difficult. The introduction of it is that it’s a killer association, and the benefits are still unknown. However, to me, it’s not worth it to spend 250,000 just to skip the prior missions.”

The outrageous price of 250,000 caused a wide discussion. The average value of a player at the time was about 3,000 to 5,000, so it was not difficult for guilds to gather 250,000 since the number of players was increasing continuously.

However, most of the guilds didn’t feel it was worth it, buying an organization referral letter for 250,000 was too luxurious, the situation was not clear yet, they decided to wait and see.

Han Xiao had quite an influence on normal players, but guilds had always been very logical, considering everything with the benefits they could earn. Other players were playing a game; they were running a business.

Compared to the outrageously priced referral letter, players paid more attention to the information Han Xiao shared about the war between the Six Nations and Germinal Organization. They were in an uproar.

After playing the game for a few days, players on Planet Aquamarine all knew that the conflict between the Six Nations and Germinal Organization was the main storyline, but war broke out when nobody expected it to, an expedition even, which proved that the battlefield would be in Andrea. Many players at the time had yet to even join an organization, and their strength was far from being enough to join the main storyline mission.

In the original storyline, war would only break out a few months later, and every continent played a part in the battle. Thus, players from everywhere had been able to join in. But with Han Xiao’s interference, not only did the war break out much earlier, it also became an expedition. The impact players had was minimized from what Han Xiao felt.

Most importantly, most of the players had yet to even trigger the main storyline mission between the Six Nations and Germinal Organization.

Black Phantom said that the Germinal Organization would certainly lose, which made many players hesitant to join them, but there were also some players who preferred the evil organizations and wanted to join the Germinal Organization

However, Han Xiao’s influence played its part. More players became hesitant. If they were to join the Germinal Organization, there was the risk of getting beaten horribly, then they might as well join the law-keeping organization of Six Nations.

With just one sentence, the Germinal Organization lost many potential supporters.

The influence that Han Xiao had on players grew as he maintained his image, and his position in the players’ heart grew stronger.

The things that he said would become important information for the players.

Han Xiao had seen the impact that the leaked information had brought on the forum. It was just as he had expected it to be.

He had successfully sabotaged the Germinal Organization secretly again, and they did not even know who was doing it and what went wrong.

Doing evil things to the Germinal Organization secretly made him feel really good.

However, the referral letter was not popular. Han Xiao was somewhat surprised, but after he contemplated for a while, he realized the reason behind it. It was because of the current financial situation of the players. Although guilds could come up with 250,000, it was quite a risk for them. If the referral letter did not have a good effect, it would slow their progress down by a huge portion.

The price that he had set for the time being was too high, and the risk of buying the referral letter would only decrease when the average asset level of the players increased. At that time, there would be guilds that would try buying it.

At this price, the first person to eat the crab will take too long to appear. Han Xiao bit his nails and started pondering. The best solution was to lower the price…

That’s impossible! Not going to happen!

I could use some sales strategy, giving out other benefits together with the referral letter.

The first thing Han Xiao thought of was giving relationship points as a reward, such as when someone bought a referral letter, he would give some relationship points. Relationship points were the prior requirements of buying high-level equipment in his store—it was all part of the profit chain.

But on second thought, giving relationship points would not be a very good idea. They were maxed at one hundred points, so he had to treasure them. The relationship points that he gave to normal players were ten at most. He did not want the players to get them so easily.

If he used them with the referral letter, one or two points would be too few and unattractive, but giving too many would be disadvantageous to him as well.

What about giving bonus equipment? The moment this thought came up, it was rejected by him. He had to be a qualified businessman, so he should never have such good morals.

He had fused some blueprints recently, but he had not built any of them, so he could not sell those either.

And in terms of drugs, it was not a good time to sell them. Some drugs that gave enhancements based on percentage would have a much bigger market once the players reach a higher level. The pro players who had to compete in matches would be his target consumers.

As he was wavering, a surprise notification appeared on the interface.

_____________________

[Source of Stone Plague] Completed

Requirement One: Find the source of the plague. Completed.

Requirement Two: Suppress the spread of the plague. Completed.

Requirement Three: Cure all the people who are infected. Incomplete.

You received 60,000 experience, +400 relationship with the Black Pine Colony

_____________________

Han Xiao stood in place with surprise.

This mission was what he had given to Frenzied Sword and Bun-hit-dog. They had completed it!

It seems I chose well. Han Xiao laughed. Their level was around 15, so this mission would have been quite difficult for them. Although they did not complete it perfectly, it was already a pleasant surprise. Since Han Xiao had not been involved in this mission at all from the beginning, the rewards dropped from the sky!

Wait a minute!

Han Xiao’s eyes sparkled.

He was inspired and had another idea of promoting the referral letter!

“Nice one Frenzied Sword!”

Han Xiao laughed. It was just the right time for the mission to be completed. It had inspired him at a crucial moment.

At this time, the players in the novice village were learning [Energy Training Technique] one by one and were swing at the price of the referral letter.

“The flow of time carried everyone forward; the truth of the past has been buried and forgotten by the people who never stopped,” Han Xiao suddenly yelled. “I need a number of trustworthy people to help me with some things.”

As he was speaking, he distributed the five hidden main storyline missions from [New Era—Origin] that he had just received into new missions: [Ending of the Survivor], [The Key of Misplacement], [Sealed Past], [Mysterious Prisoner], and [Same Type of Person].

[New Era—Origin] was too cumbersome, and it would waste a lot of time if Han Xiao did them himself. Furthermore, it was only the first round.

Han Xiao decided to distribute the targets of the missions and let the players do it. This way, he could save time and get the rewards without doing much. The success of Frenzied Sword proved the idea, and he found out that he could still get the rewards even if the players completed the mission.

Just like the evil capitalists who used benefits to attract others to work for them but still ended up earning the most.

Furthermore, Han Xiao stated clearly that this was a Main Storyline Mission, which would increase his status among the players again.

An NPC that gives out main storyline missions. Damn, he has got to be someone important! was what Han Xiao expected the players to think.

The players saw the mission and froze in place. Then they became overjoyed.

“Main storyline mission!”

“God! This is another main storyline!”

“The rewards are plenty!”

“Quick, accept the mission!”

However, the players noticed that the mission was in gray color, which meant that it could not be accepted.

“Why can’t I accept the mission? Why‽”

The confusion was solved within a short period. They soon realized that the missions had a prior requirement—buying the referral letter!

That’s… that’s too greedy!

The players turned furious. How are they going to play 250,000? Who the hell could afford that!

Seeing the expression of the players, Han Xiao smiled secretly. Because of the quota, his Main Storyline Mission could only be given to a limited number of players. Thus, he had to target the elites, so he had decided to attract the pro players. Pro players had large guilds behind them, and it was perfect for promoting the referral letter and making bundle sales.

You want the main storyline mission? Okay, buy my referral letter.

Don’t want to spend money? Then why do you deserve to become stronger?

Pro players were willing to grow through any means; they would never give up the main storyline missions.

Another reason Han Xiao was doing this was that there was a chance for the normal players to fail the mission, which would result in him also failing the missions. However, pro players had higher skills on average, and they had guilds behind them who would help them with the mission. Clearly, they were more reliable.

Those that were rare were those that were treasured. He also added another important line in the mission introduction, which was that there was a chance to earn Black Phantom’s favor. This was an obvious hint that accepting the mission might trigger his ‘hidden storyline’.

Frenzied Sword, Bun-hit-dog, and Maple Moon were not attractive enough as examples. Very few highly skilled players came. Maybe it was because they felt triggering hidden storyline required luck; therefore, they did not take it seriously.

Han Xiao decided to go for a strong approach, to let the highly skilled players see that there was a way with a higher chance to trigger Black Phantom’s hidden storyline.

This is a good strategy. It’s killing two… many birds with one stone. Han Xiao was satisfied.

Even this won’t attract you‽ I doubt that.

…

The forum had a chat room function. At this time, there was a room with a password that had people joining in continuously, and the notifications kept popping up.

_____________________

Jade Green Sky entered the chat room.

Jupiter entered the chat room.

Morning Snow Twilight Frost entered the chat room.

Your Mom Collapses When I Cry entered the chat room.

_____________________

About a dozen people entered the chat room. They were all chairpeople of famous guilds in China, and they formed a circle themselves.

“Is everyone here?” Mountain Rain, the chairman of Drizzling Rivers Guild, spoke first.

“Nope,” Your Mom Collapses When I Cry said.

The chairman of Nine Gates Guild, Three Times Three Equals 9, asked, “Where’s Old Qi? Did anyone invite him?”

“Never mind, he spams all the time. We would never get things done with him joining in,” Cowherd Star, the chairman of Chrysanthemum Guild, said.

“Who opened the chat room? What serious matter are we talking about?” Jupiter asked.

Jade Green Sky cut in and said, “Yo, isn’t this the rich house of esports? I heard you have not been running your God squad well recently. Lousy chairman. When you step down, I will light firecrackers in front of your club doors to celebrate. @Jupiter”

“Fu*k off,” Jupiter snapped back.

Morning Snow Twilight Frost sent a funny smiley face.

“@Mountain Rain, Rainy Kim of your Thunder Storm has been quite active lately and always goes on TV shows. Can you help me ask for a signature?” Your Mom Collapses When I Cry asked.

“One for 3,000, no negotiating,” Mountain Rain answered.

“Damn, are you robbing me? Can you have some morals?”

Cowherd Star cut in and said, “My signature is free, do you want it?”

“Go away, your signature is not even worth enough to be used as toilet paper. I could consider if it’s from lady Yao Yao. @Seven Colors of a Peptachord[a] ¹ ”

“Stop insinuating. She’s not even here.” Cowherd Star was upset.

Morning Snow Twilight Frost sent a funny smiley face.

“Stop talking nonsense, let’s talk about the matter, I’m very busy,” Jupiter said.

“You? You’re basically a mascot,” Jade Green Sky sneered.

“Go away!”

“Okay guys, I will pull us back to the topic,” Mountain Rain declared. “You guys have all seen the posts in the forums about the main storyline missions from Black Phantom.”

“Yes, we saw it, what are you saying?”

“We should come up with the money together. Then we let the pro players accept the main storyline missions from Black Phantom.”

“You want to share the risk? But only one person can accept each mission.”

“No, what I mean is that the pro players can form a team to complete it. It’s positive competition.”

“That sound pretty good, I will have to ask the expedition group for their suggestions,” Jade Green Sky said.

“I’m in. There definitely won’t be any objections from the club,” Cowherd Stars said.

“I’m fine with anything, smile!” responded Three Times Three Equals 9.

“Haha, I remember the pro players of Guild of Gods is all in Southern Continent. They can’t meet Black Phantom. You can’t play with us @Jupiter. Quickly kick him. He’s a spy here to collect intelligence,” Jade Green Sky mocked.

“You motherfu…”

_____________________

Jupiter has left the chat room.

_____________________

Morning Snow Twilight Frost sent a funny smiley face.

[a]Google is suggesting that this should be Pentachord, is that right?

Han Xiao was about done with harvesting the players in this novice village. He smugly counted the experience—he had gotten a huge amount yet again.

However, nobody had bought the referral letter so far, but Fisherman Han was patient—him giving out main storyline missions had already made a storm on the forums. Sooner or later, someone would come.

One last novice village left. Maybe I should delay it a while so that these large guilds have enough time to raise the money, Han Xiao thought.

This time, two players walked toward Han Xiao next to each other. Their IDs were Wind Chaser and Dragon Tail, which attracted the attention of other players. They were rather famous players of the Nine Gates Guild and the Fanatics Guild.

Han Xiao’s eye twinkled. The highly skilled players have finally come.

“Black Phantom, we want to buy the referral letter,” Wind Chaser said.

“Sure.”

Wind Chaser and Dragon Tail had received the funds from the guild of their clubs. A team was the face of a club, so as pro players, they were treated well. They took out 250,000 each.

The players around looked at them with envy. They had never seen such a large amount of money.

“Can’t believe someone can actually afford it.”

“Large guilds are really rich.”

“No wonder pro players are stronger than us. If I had such resources, I would be able to go pro, too.”

“You think just anyone can be signed by a club?”

“If we rob their money, we’ll be crazy rich.”

“Don’t be stupid. Putting aside the fact that pro player would completely skunk you, even if you succeeded, the guild will chase you everywhere, or maybe Blank Phantom will kill you first.”

The crowd talked among themselves.

He received 500,000 in one shot, then wrote the referral letters on the spot and gave them to the two pro players. He told them the location of a Dark Net stronghold in the Western Continent and said, “Take my letter there, and you can join the Blood Pact Society.”

He paused and then said, “Seems like I can trust you. I have some tasks here. Would you like to help me?”

“That’s what I’ve been waiting for.” Dragon Tail immediately accepted the mission. He wanted to accept one after another but was notified that only one mission could be accepted.

This had been set by Han Xiao—one referral letter for one mission.

“Shit, only one mission can be accepted. I thought I could accept all of them.” Dragon Tail was unhappy.

Han Xiao raised his brows and said, “Leave it if you don’t want to do it.”

Dragon Tail shut up. If he did not accept the mission, the money would have gone to waste.

Wind Chaser had no choice but to choose the same mission. The two clubs behind them had joined forces to do the mission as a team. Luckily Dragon Tail accepted a mission that was in the Western Continent.

“If you can complete the mission, there might be more things you can help me with.” Han Xiao hinted that in order to unlock his ‘hidden storyline’, first they had to complete this mission.

Pro players were always in a rush. They left immediately after accepting the mission.

Five mission targets, two in the Western Continent, two in the Northern Continent, and one in the Southern Continent—he had to make sure they were all accepted by someone. Fortunately for him, all these continents were part of his schedule.

Although the main storyline mission was A-grade, this was the easiest first round. Han Xiao separated the mission targets into many smaller missions that had a difficulty of around grade D, so the single mission experience quota could suffice for the experience he was rewarding.

In the later rounds, when the difficulty becomes higher, my quota might not be enough by then.

He felt that he needed a way to increase his quota. Levelling up was not an option at the moment, so he had to go for organizations and legendary points. There was no need to think about these at the moment.

Wind Chaser and Dragon Tail were normal pro players, and they didn’t have a very good battle record in my previous life. I shall observe for now.

Han Xiao was strict in choosing his spare tires. He was not going to choose every pro player.

…

Fanatics and Nine Gates posted about their players buying the referral letter on the forums, which was a promotion of themselves to increase their fame within the players. The huge amount of money that they had spent attracted many players’ attention, and they were all amazed at what they had done.

Han Xiao’s face also showed up indirectly because of the advertisement from these two clubs. The clubs that followed after would also mimic the same actions so that they did not lag behind. Han Xiao guessed that his face would probably appear many times on the forums.

Without stopping, Han Xiao came to the last novice village in the Western Continent. As he was harvesting experience, there were other pro players that used the funds from their guild to exchange for a chance to accept the missions. Normal players could only watch and envy from the sidelines.

Another mission in the Western Continent was also accepted by a pro player. Han Xiao could finally relax and happily sell his abilities, at the same time paying attention to the forums and the Dark Net.

“Hmm? New episode of ‘Galaxy Times’. Titled… Creation of the Professional League?”

Han Xiao felt wide awake. He had always paid a lot of attention to this show, so he clicked in immediately.

“Hello players,” the male host greeted, “this is Galaxy Times, dedicated to sharing first-hand game information. Your gaming career is our top priority.”

“Spring, I have been quite anxious recently,” the female host commented.

“What’s wrong, Autumn?”

“I fell in love with a man. He doesn’t speak much, and he’s so handsome, but he’s never looked at me seriously and never talks to me.”

“Don’t worry, I think you two suit each other very well.”

Female host was surprised. “Really?”

“Of course, he’s handsome and cool, you’re short and ugly, how suitable.”

“…”

It was the awkward opening joke again. The style felt very nostalgic to Han Xiao.

The screen was filled with comments.

A lot of players watched Galaxy Times. In less than a month after beginning, they had already become the go-to show for the players. After all, they had the official background, so they had a lot of first-hand information.

They chatted for a while to bring up the atmosphere. Then, the male host said, “Alright, let us get back to our main topic. In today’s show, we will be digging deep into the most popular topic—Inhuman Phenomenon—the news from pro players, and we also invited Li Ge to be our guest. Be sure to stay.”

The contents of the show were interesting as always. They started off by going through the progress of players in all various planets while giving some comments on the level leaderboard.

“Currently, the highest-level players are already closing to level 20. Level 20 will be the first class advancement, so I wonder who will receive this honor. The first player to receive a class advancement will be recorded in the books of gaming history as a milestone.”

“As everyone can clearly see, the players on the top of the leaderboards are mostly not pro players. The Japanese players have the highest number of players on the list; as everyone knows, their base camp planet is the Lonnie Planet, where technology and magic coexist. They are at the peak period of the civilization, which is very suitable for getting missions and levelling up. There are also quite a number of players from France and America while there are not many from China. Oh, I see someone I know. Maple Moon, do you guys remember? Not long after the official launch, she received more than 100,000 experience points, which was from the first prize pool mission the players have seen.”

“Speaking of the Black Phantom, from the beginning of the game till now, he has been the center of attention for the players in Planet Aquamarine, and recently, something has happened again. He continuously appeared in novice villages to give out guidance and rewards, and not long ago, he showed another main storyline mission, but it had a prior requirement of buying an item that was priced at an outrageous amount of 250,000 Aquamarine dollars! If players from other planets want to know how much this means, please move to the currency exchange panel, and look at how many resources can be purchased with 250,000 Aquamarine dollars.

Players from other planets envied Planet Aquamarine. Why did they not have such a great novice guider?